THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


:. 


THE 


MACROCOSM  AND  MICROCOSM; 

OE,  TUX 

UNIVERSE  WITHOUT  AND  THE  UNIVERSE  WITHIN: 

BEING 

AN   UNFOLDING  OF  THE   PLAN   OF   CREATION   AND  THE  CORRESPOND- 
ENCE   OF   TRUTHS,    BOTH    IN 

THE  WORLD  OF  SENSE  AND  THE  WORLD  OF  SOUL. 
En 


BY  WILLIAM  FISHBOUGH. 
0 


PAR  T     I  . 

THE  MACROCOSM;   OR,   THE   UNIVERSE   WITHOUT. 


Nature  is  a  harp  of  »BTEN  TIMSS  BEVEK  strings, 
On  which,  by  God's  own  hand,  is  gently  played 
The  ever-varied  music  of  the  spheres. 


NEW    YORK: 
FOWLERS    AND    WELLS,    PUBLISHERS, 

CLINTON  HALL,  181  NASSAU  STREET. 

Boston  142  Washington-st]  1852  F London,  No.  142j3trand. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1852,  by 

WILLIAM  FISHBOUGH, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


T.  STEREOTYPE  ASSOCIATION, 

201  William  Street,  N.  Y. 


PREFACE. 


IN  submitting  the  accompanying  Treatise  to  the  public,  it  may  be 
proper  to  precede  it  by  a  few  facts 'and  remarks  relative  to  its  origin, 
plan,  and  purpose.  In  the  summer  of  1849,  on  retiring  from  the  edi- 
torial charge  of  a  Philosophical  Journal,  the  writer  announced  his 
intention  to  prepare  and  publish,  as  soon  as  convenient,  a  work  on 
Psychology — a  subject  then,  as  now,  exciting  much  interest  among  a 
class  of  readers  with  whom  he  had  been  holding  weekly  communion. 
A  manuscript  of  such  a  work  was,  during  the  few  ensuing  months, 
nearly  finished ;  but  various  circumstances  and  considerations  arose  to 
prevent  its  publication,  among  the  chief  of  which  were,  first,  that  with 
the  materials  of  psychological  science  then  unfolded,  I  found  it  impos- 
sible to  bring  the  work  to  a  desired  state  of  perfection  ;  and,  secondly, 
that  facts  and  principles  such  I  was  then  able,  only,  to  set  forth,  were 
already  rapidly  forcing  themselves  into  general  notice  in  another  way. 
I  concluded,  therefore,  to  await  the  unfolding  of  further  light  upon  a 
subject  of  which,  at  that  time,  no  one  could  claim  more  than  a  very 
superficial  knowledge,  and  to  postpone  the  publication  of  the  results 
of  my  investigations  until  they  were  further  matured,  and  until  the 
state  of  the  public  mind,  upon  questions  to  which  they  related,  gave  a 
fair  indication  that  some  particular  use,  not  accomplished  by  other  de- 
velopments, might  be  possibly  subserved  in  submitting  them  to  general 
perusal.  These  statements  involve  an  explanation  and  apology  to  a 
large  portion  of  my  former  readers,  who,  as  I  learn,  felt  disappointed 
at  the  non-appearance  of  the  announced  publication  at  the  time  it  was 
expected,  and  whose  letters  of  inquiry  respecting  it  I  have,  in  some 
instances,  been  reluctantly  compelled  to  leave  unanswered. 

As  investigations  have  been  continued  upon  the  great  subject  of 
Psychology,  together  with  its  cognate  and  still  higher  themes,  it  has, 
of  course,  greatly  expanded ;  until,  in  the  aspect  which  the  ques- 
tion finally  assumed,  it  was  perceived  to  be  impossible  to  give  any  ade- 
quate exposition  of  the  great  realm  of  being  within  man,  without  the 


IV  PREFACE. 

aid  of  some  more  enlarged,  systematic,  and  interior  exposition  than  any 
which  was  yet  generally  extant,  of  the  great  realm  of  being  without, 
which  serves  to  the  former  as  a  natural  counterpart  and  exponent. 

Feeling,  therefore,  an  embarrassment  at  the  thought  of  writing  upon 
the  interior  constitution,  laws,  and  susceptibilities  of  man,  without  the 
comprehensive  basis  of  a  general  material  philosophy  so  universally 
harmonized  and  compacted,  as  to  bring  nature  without  into  the  ob- 
vious analogy  of  a  single  human  being,  and  thus  into  an  aspect  in 
which  it  might  be  constantly  drawn  upon  for  comparisons  and  illustra- 
tions, I  accordingly  determined  to  precede  my  proposed  anthropological 
Treatise  by  a  general  disquisition  upon  the  realm  of  exterior  being, 
which  I  have  called  the  "  MACROCOSM,"  in  contradistinction  to  the 
human  physical  and  psychical  constitution,  which  I  have  called  the 
"  MICROCOSM."  Both  Treatises  were,  at  first,  designed  to  be  submitted 
in  one  volume ;  but  as  it  was  perceived  that  each  would  embrace  a  sub- 
ject which  is  complete  in  itself,  though  intimately  connected  with  the 
other,  it  was  finally  determined  to  issue  them  separately. 

In  speaking  briefly  of  the  further  objects  and  general  plan  of  the  pres- 
ent work,  I  will  premise  that  the  whole  realm  of  created  being,  natural, 
psychological,  and  even  spiritual,  forms  (at  least  in  the  general  sense) 
one  perfectly  united  System,  consistent  and  harmonious  in  all  its  parts 
and  interactivities.  To  this  proposition  the  reason  and  intuition  of  every 
well-constituted  human  mind  responds  an  instant  assent.  But  a  reli- 
able conception  of  the  universal  ptan  of  this  complex  unity  of  created 
being,  has  hitherto  undeniably  been  a  grand  desideratum  of  philos- 
ophy ;  and,  reasoning  superficially  only  from  the  objects  which  come 
within  the  scope  of  the  five  exterior  senses,  and  without  the  aid  of  any 
grand  fundamental  and  interior  Principle  to  connect  and  harmonize  all 
things,  in  serial  and  graduated  orders,  from  the  common  primary  cause 
to  ultimate  effects — men  have  cherished  theories  ever  conflicting,  ever 
varying,  and  necessarily  ever  disfigured,  more  or  less,  with  essential 
errors  and  imperfections.  I  have  ventured  to  hope  that  this  defect  in 
the  mode  of  philosophizing  might  prove  to  be  in  some  good  degree  sup- 
plied by  a  discovery,  the  fundamental  principles  of  which  came  into 
my  mind  some  four  years  ago,  in  a  manner  quite  extraordinary,  but  of 
which  I  need  not  now  speak  particularly.  This  discovery,  which  I  have 
called  "the  law  of  the  seven-fold  correspond 'ential  series,"  or  "the 
harmonial  scale  of  creation,"  is,  to  some  extent,  unfolded  and 


PliEFACE.  V 

applied  in  the  present  volume,  though  but  a  small  portion  of  the  evi- 
dences of  its  truth,  and  the  instances  of  its  applicability,  are  herein 
exhibited. 

The  main  idea  embraced  in  the  discovery  referred  to  is,  that  each 
complete  system,  or  sub-system  of  creation,  however  great  or  small,  is 
resolvable  into  seven  serial  parts  or  elemental  degrees,  corresponding 
to  the  seven  notes  of  the  diatonic  scale ;  that,  as  composed  of  such  parts, 
the  systems  are  arranged  side  by  side,  or  one  above  another,  as  so 
many  octaves,  corresponding  to  the  octaves  in  music ;  and  that,  like 
them,  each  one  serves  as  a  general  exponent  of  all  the  others,  whether 
on  a  higher  or  lower  scale.  This  idea,  with  its  natural  adjuncts,  of 
which  I  can  not  here  speak  particularly,  by  harmonizing  and  unitizing 
all  natural  series  and  degrees  of  creation,  also  clearly  illustrates  the 
fact  that  all  truths  are  involved  in,  and  evolved  from,  one  grand  cen- 
tral Truth ;  that  they  are,  indeed,  but  parts  and  degrees  of  that  one 
fundamental  truth,  which  are  ultimated  in  the  various  forms  of  em- 
bodiment which  compose  the  sum  total  of  created  existence.  By  pur- 
suing the  method  of  reasoning  which  this  idea  unfolds,  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  make  one  portion  of  the  system  of  nature  expose  the  secrets  of 
another,  and  caused  visible  facts  and  invisible  principles  to  mutually 
cast  their  light  upon  each  other. 

That  this  method  might  be  pursued  in  the  most  reliable  manner,  ob- 
servations are  commenced  upon  the  surface  of  the  system  of  things, 
composed  of  those  objects  which  are  appreciable  to  the  outer  senses, 
and  thence,  by  facts  known  particularly  to  geological  and  astronomi- 
cal science,  I  have  endeavored  to  rationally  trace  the  system  of  outer 
being  to  its  origin,  to  the  primal  condition  of  its  materials,  and  to  its 
Divine  Cause.  Assuming,  thus,  a  position  at  the  center  of  the  uni- 
versal field  of  thought,  where  all  principles  converge  to  a  common 
focus,  I  have  endeavored  to  survey,  so  far  as  possible,  the  vistas  of 
creative  development  which  thence  diverge  in  all  directions,  and  to 
observe  truth  in  its  progressive,  serial,  and  orderly  unfoldings,  from 
center  to  superfices,  from  generals  to  particulars,  from  causes  to  effects, 
from  origins  to  ultimates.  Finding  at  this  central  position,  the  princi- 
ples and  germs  of  general  unity  and  systematic  order,  which  must  of 
necessity  be  perpetual  throughout  all  subsequent  unfoldings,  I  have 
attempted,  through  a  unitary  and  systematic  order  of  combined  analysis 
and  synthesis,  to  show  how  the  system  of  creation  must  have  been 


VI  PREFACE. 

gradually  unfolded  into  its  present  form,  and  to  illustrate  the  harmo- 
nious principles,  forms,  movements,  laws,  and  interactivities  which 
now  characterize  it  as  a  whole  and  in  all  its  parts. 

It  has  thus  been  the  object  to  draw  the  bold  outlines  of  a  comprehen- 
sive primordial  philosophy,  and  to  contribute,  so  far  as  possible,  to  the 
establishment  of  a  system  of  thought,  in  which  all  truths  maj  be  viewed 
in  their  serial,  orderly,  and  mutually  explanatory  relations,  from  gen- 
erals to  particulars — a  system  whose  internal,  vitalizing  principle  will 
constantly  tend  to  the  absorption  of  all  truths,  and  the  elimination  of 
all  errors,  in  the  same  way  in  which  the  principles  of  music  constantly 
tend  to  the  appropriation  of  harmonies,  and  the  elimination  of  discords. 
If  I  have  succeeded  even  to  the  extent  of  unfolding,  with  general  cor- 
rectness, the  most  general  principles  of  such  a  philosophy,  the  sure 
guide-boards  and  indices  to  something  vastly  more  perfect  of  the  same 
kind  may  be  considered  as  established ;  and  the  key  to  all  conceivable 
truth,  whether  relating  to  nature  without,  the  soul  within,  the  spirit 
world  above,  or  to  the  Divine  Author  and  Governor  of  all  things,  may, 
in  some  sense,  be  considered  as  in  our  possession  ;  for  no  one  can  essen- 
tially err  in  regard  to  either  of  these  subjects,  so  long  as  he  stands  in 
the  light  of  a  systeia  which  makes  all  truths  the  clear  and  certain  ex- 
ponents of  each  other. 

I  would  invite  particular  attention  to  that  feature  of  the  present 
volume,  by  which  the  fundamentals  of  an  elevated  theology  are  pre- 
served and  established  upon  the  very  basis  of  those  facts  in  science 
which  have  been  thought  to  be  rather  pantheistic  in  their  intimations. 

Following,  as  it  does,  in  some  respects,  a  comparatively  unbeaten 
path,  this  Treatise  can  not,  of  course,  reasonably  claim  entire  exemp- 
tion from  errors  and  imperfections.  Such  as  it  is,  however,  it  is  re- 
spectfully submitted  to  a  candid  and  discerning  public,  with  the  hope 
that  any  criticism  it  may  excite  may  not  be  exclusively  destructive,  but 
in  some  degree  also  constructive — that  it  may  not  only  expose  errors 
and  imperfections  (which  should  be  faithfully  done),  but  suggest  im- 
provements—so that  by  the  combined  intelligence  of  many,  some 
closer  approximations  to  the  truth  may  be  made  than  I  dare  presume 
to  have  yet  attained,  notwithstanding  the  degree  of  confidence  I  may 
have  in  the  general  correctness  of  the  method  which  has  been  pur- 
sued, and  the  results  to  which  it  has  conduced.  W.  F. 

WIJLLIAMSBURGH,  September  7th,  1852. 


CONTENTS. 


PEEK  ACE Page  3 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE    COGNIZABLE    AND    THE    COGNIZING. 

Interior  Faculties— Exterior  Objects— At  Equipoise— Correspondence  of  Outer  and 
Inner — Course  to  be  Pursued . 11 

•      CHAPTER  II. 

DESCENDING    SCALE    OF   TERRESTRIAL   FORMS. 

The  Three  Kingdoms— Geological  Formations— Descent  through  the  Strata— AUivcial, 
Diluvial,  Tertiary,  Secondary,  and  Transition  Formations— Thickness  of  Strata 
—Simplicity  of  Older  Fossils— Primary  Eocks— Original  Fluidity  from  Heat— Pres- 
ent State  of  the  Earth's  Center— Primitive  State  of  the  Earth's  Materials 14 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  TPIE  SOLAR  SYSTEM  ANALOGICALLY 
RETRACED. 

Connection  of  Geology  and  Astronomy— Common  Source  of  the  Planets— Nebular 
Theory— its  Conception  by  Herschel— Nebulous  Stars— Further  Proofs  of  the  Theory 
— Oblately  Spheroidal  Forms  and  their  Signification— Gradation  of  Densities— Ee- 
sidual  Nebulous  Matter—"  Zodiacal  Light"— Comets— Compte's  Calculations— Kirk- 
wood's  Law— The  Conclusion 22 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  SIDEREAL  UNIVERSE  ANALOGI- 
CALLY RETRACED. 

Stars  are  Suns—  Clusters— The  Milky  Way— The  Heavens  Sounded— Clusters  beyond 
Clusters— Their  Shapes  and  Densities—  Gravitation  indicated— Proof  of  other  Laws 
— Variable  Stars — Eevolving  Double  Stars — Immense  Periods  of  some  of  them — 
Universality  of  Eevolutionary  Motion — Motion  of  the  whole  Solar  System — Maedler's 
Central  Sun— Still  higher  Systems— "  Magellan's  Clouds"— The  System  of  all  Sys- 
tems— The  Infinite  and  the  Infinitesimal — Nebular  Theory  universally  Applied — • 
Primeval  Universal  Chaos 81 

CHAPTER  V. 

MATERIAL  BEGINNINGS  AS  POINTING  TO  A  SUPER-MATERIAL  CAUSE. 

Matter,  ~s  Physical  Substance,  not  Eternal — Logical  Evidences  of  a  Spiritual  Cause — 
That  this  Spiritual  Cause  was  Uncaused,  Personal,  and  DIVINE — Matter  Formed  from 
Spiritual  Substance— Motion  not  Inherent  in  Matter— Must  have  its  Origin  in  Spirit 
—IN  GOD...  ..  44 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  UNIVERSAL  SYNTHESIS. 

Practicability  of  a  Synthesis— Effects  contained  in  Causes— Material  Germs  and  their 
Developments — Universal  Materiality  and  Infinite  Spirit — Reclamation  of  Science 
from  Pantheistic  Tendencies — Divine  Thoughts  as  Archetypes — Theory  of  Creation 
thence  deducible — What  Man  may  know  concerning  God — The  "  Seven  Spirits  of 
God"— Creations  hence  Seven-fold— Universal  Correspondences— The  ffarmonial 
Scale  of  Creation,  and  great  Musical  Organ— The  Timbers  and  the  Temple 51 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    SEVEN    FUNDAMENTAL    LAWS,    AND    THEIR    INTIMATIONS    RE- 
SPECTING THE  ORIGIN  AND  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 

Primordial  Matter— Origin  of  Motion— Its  Seven  Laws— Divine  Love,  Heat,  and  EX- 
PANSION— Divine  Wisdom,  Light,  and  ATTBACTION — Origin  of  Central  Sun — Origin 
of  Rotary  Motion— Emanation— Law  of  CIRCULATION— Law  of  AGGREGATION— Con- 
centric Nebulous  Rings— Their  Existing  Analogues— Law  of  SEGREGATION— Segre- 
gated Masses — Stellar  Clusters  formed  from  these — Confirmatory  Celestial  Appear- 
ances— Immensity  of  Creation — Analogy  of  Asteroids — General  Formation  of  Suns 
— Formation  of  Planets — Summary  of  Evidences 65 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  SEVEN   DYNAMIC  AGENTS,  OR   POTENTIAL   MEDIA  OF  NATURE. 

Hoat,  Light,  and  Electricity— A  Corresponding  Trinity  Inferred— Proved  by  Reichen- 
bach's  Experiments — Flames  from  Magnets,  Crystals,  etc. — Seven  Colors  of  their 
Light — Explains  the  Aurora  Sorealis — Heat  Inferred — Ethereal  Emanations,  and 
their  Singular  Effects— "  Odic"  Heat,  and  its  Offices— "Odic"  Light,  and  its  Offices— 
"Odic"  Aura,  and  its  Offices— The  Latter  a  Universal  Sympathetic  Medium— Its 
Identity  with  "  Animal  Magnetism"— Medium  of  Divine  Action— Divine  Embodi- 
ment—Distinction between  Nature  and  God 91 

CHAPTER  IX. 

DEFECTS  OF  PREVAILING  COSMOLOGICAL  THEORIES. 

Newton's  Idea  of  a  Primary  Impulse— Of  Centrifugal  and  Centripetal  Forces— Diffi- 
culties in  respect  to  the  Stability  of  the  System— Their  Solution— Lifelesaness  of  New- 
ton's System— It  is  a  Dangerous  Machine 118 

CHAPTER  X. 

GROUNDS    OF    STABILITY  AND   GENERAL    ECONOMY  OF  THE   COSMI- 
CAL  STRUCTURE. 

New  Theory  Propounded— Illustrations— Life  of  the  System— No  Vacuity  in  Space- 
Equilibrium—  Recuperative  Force,  etc. 119 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  XI. 

PARTICULAR     CONSIDERATIONS     CONCERNING     THE     GENESIS    AND 

MODUS  OPERANDI  OF  THE  SOLAR  SYSTEM. 
The  Solar  and  the  Universal  Systems— Origin  of  Comets— The  Zodiacal  Light. ...  128 

CHAPTER  XII. 

SYNTHETICAL  VIEW  OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  EARTH,  AND  ITS 
GEOLOGICAL  FORMATIONS. 

Seven  Stages  of  Progress — The  CHAOTIC  STAGE — Nucleation  of  Earth  and  Moon- 
Polar  Opposition — Analogy  of  Binary  Stellar  Systems — Common  Ethereal  Envelope 
— Effects  on  Somnambulists,  etc. — Common  Center — Modified  Theory  of  Tides — SEC- 
OND STAGE — THIBD  STAGE — FOURTH  STAGK — Atmospheric  Conditions — Early  Scenery 
Described — FIFTH  STAGE — New  Red  Sandstone — Frost-marks,  Bird-tracks,  etc. — 
Diversity  of  Seasons— Marsupials— SIXTH  STAGE— Inorganic  and  Organic  Progress— 
SEVENTH  STAGE,  and  Completion 131 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  GEOLOGICAL  AND  THE  MOSAIC  REVELATIONS. 
Antiquity  of  our  Globe — Alarm  of  Theologians — Truths  must  Harmonize — Theology 
and  Science— Principles  of  Interpretation— Meaning  of  "  Day"— Work  of  First  Day 
—Second  Day— Third  Day— Fourth  Day— Fifth  Day— Sixth  Day— Sabbatic  Period- 
Coincidences— Correspondential  Classification 148 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  MINERAL  KINGDOM,  OR  THE  KINGDOM  OF  CHEMICAL  FORMS. 
Its  Seven  Divisions 169 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  VEGETABLE  KINGDOM. 
Its  Seven  Divisions 172 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE     ANIMAL    KINGDOM. 
Its  Seven  Divisions ITS 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  WHOLE  AND  ITS  PARTS. 

Generals  and  Particulars— Comprehensive  Classification— Illustration  by  Prismatic 
Colors— The  Temple  Erected 177 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

DUALISM  OF  PRODUCTIVE  FORCES,  OR  THE  DIASTOLE  AND  SYSTOLE 
OF  NATURE. 

The  Two  Fundamental  Forces— Examples  in  the  Cosmical,  Mineral,  Vegetable,  and 
Animal  Creations— Facts  in  Embryology— Progress  of  Organization— The  Principle 
Generalized— The  Diastole  and  Systole— Ulterior  Laws 185 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

CIRCLES. 

The  Principle  of  the  Circle  applicable  to  all  Thing*— Wheels  within  Wheels— The 
Machine  not  Self-propelling 194 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  DEGREES. 

Swedenborg's  Philosophy — Degrees  "Continuous"  and  "Discreet"  —  Improvement 
suggested— Facilitates  Investigation 200 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  CORRESPONDENCES. 
Foundation  and  Laws  of  Correspondences— Importance  of  the  Doctrine 208 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PROGRESSIVE  DEVELOPMENT. 

A  pending  Controversy — Theory  of  the  "  VESTIGES  OF  CREATION" — Arguments  for  Law. 
Creations— The  Nebular  Hypothesis— Chemistry— Geology— Fossilology— Plant-like 
Crystallizations — Arbor  Diance — Spontaneous  Germination — Transmutation  of  Vege- 
table Species— Entozoa— Animals  Developed  by  Electricity— Rudimentary  and  Inci- 
dental Organs— Analogy  of  Human  Fcetal  and  Zoological  Developments— Theory 
Deduced— Opposition  Excited— Its  Grounds— Aspects  of  the  Question 211 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

FURTHER  VIEW  OF  THE    SYSTEM    OF  LIVING   FORMS,  AS    SUGGEST- 
ING ITS  MODE  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 

The  Light  of  our  Philosophy— Progression  and  Eetrogression— Embryonic  Forms— 
Their  Progress  and  Significance— The  Great  Tree— Genesis  of  Animal  Kingdom  224 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

LAW  AGENCY  AND  DIVINE  AGENCY. 

Law  Defined— Its  Universality— It  is  not  Force— Archetypes  and  their  Clothing— Hu- 
man and  Divine  Builder — Divine  Dwelling-places — Creation  did  not  Develop  itself 
— Diagramatio  Illustration— Overthrow  of  Pantheistic  Speculations 284 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

PROVIDENCES. 

Providences  are  Law-governed— Media  determine  Modes  of  Divine  Action— Eecep- 
tacles  modify  Influence— The  "Light  of  the  World"— New  Beginning  Principle—- 
Miracles—Truths  Sacred  wherever  found 249 

CONCLUSION  OF  THB  VOLUMK 258 


THE    MACROCOSM; 


OR, 


THE    UNIVERSE    WITHOUT. 
CHAPTEE   I. 

THE  COGNIZABLE  AND  THE  COGNIZING. 

THE  starting  point  of  all  thought  and  investigation  with 
every  human  being,  i£  his  own  interior  consciousness.  This, 
to  every  one,  is  the  most  absolutely  fixed  of  all  facts — the 
most  positively  certain  of  all  certainties ;  and  it  is  hence  the 
position  from  which  all  other  certainties  and  uncertainties, 
probabilities  and  improbabilities,  possibilities  and  impossibili- 
ties, are  estimated.  But  as  from  our  individual  centers  of 
consciousness  and  intellection,  we  open  our  eyes  and  look 
without  us,  we  find  ourselves  surrounded  by  appearances  of 
various  forms  and  conditions,  near  and  remote,  which  act 
upon  our  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  natures,  and  are  re- 
acted upon  by  us ;  and  these  active  and  re-active  influences 
are,  in  some  sense,  at  a  constant  equipoise.  There  is  thus 
a  universe  without,  and  a  universe  within  us — a  universe  of 
cognizable  forms,  principles,  and  conditions,  and  a  universe 


12      THE    COGNIZABLE    AND    THE     COGNIZING. 

of  cognizing  faculties,  the  one  being  related  to,  and  corre- 
sponding with,  the  other.  It  is  a  legitimate  object  and  privi- 
lege of  every  inquiring  mind  to  understand,  in  some  degree, 
both  of  these  universes ;  and  in  order  to  do  this  to  the  fullest 
extent,  one  must  investigate  each  with  a  constant  regard  to 
its  analogies  with,  and  relations  to,  the  other.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  mapping  out,  if  possible,  certain  great  outlines  of 
the  one  united  and  harmonious  system  of  truth  as  embracing 
both  of  these  departments,  an  investigation  of  this  kind  is 
now  proposed. 

The  forms  of  the  outer  universe  are  included  in  a  few  sim- 
ple and  comprehensive  classifications,  as  they  are  arranged 
above  or  beneath  each  other  in  the  scale  of  creation.  Those 
beneath  man,  and  which  at  present  form  the  special  subject 
of  investigation,  are  embraced  in  the  comprehensive  divisions 
of  animal,  vegetable,  mineral,  geological,  and  astronomical  or 
cosmical  forms.  Of  these,  singularly  and  in  united  groups, 
together  with  their  more  superficial  properties,  the  interior 
soul  gains  a  perception  through  some  one  or  more  of  the 
sensational  channels,  known  as  Touch,  Taste,  Sight,  Hearing, 
and  Smell.  Proceeding  upon  the  basis  of  the  impressions 
received  through  these  avenues  of  sense,  the  ratiocinative 
faculty  becomes  the  medium  of  some  knowledge  of  the  pur- 
poses and  mutual  relations  of  these,  and  of  the  laws  by  which 
they  are  governed ;  and,  availing  itself  of  the  contributions  of 
both  Sense  and  Reason,  at  the  same  time  that  it  draws,  from 
its  own  interior  and  independent  resources,  the  faculty  of 
Intuition  decides  upon  their  causes,  their  life  forces,  and  their 
more  interior  significations. 

Conforming,  therefore,  to  what,  in  this  work,  will  be  recog- 
nized as  the  true  method  of  reasoning,  it  shall  be  our  first 


COUKSE     TO     BE     PURSUED.  13 

endeavor,  by  the  aid  of  Sense,  Reason,  and  Intuition,  to  trace 
analytically  the  descending  scale  of  creation,  from  exteriors  to 
interiors,  from  effects  to  causes,  from  ultimates  to  origins.  If 
we  can  succeed  by  this  process  in  establishing  any  reliable 
conclusions  relative  to  the  first,  the  elemental,  and  hence 
germinal  form  and  condition  whence  sprang  this  universal 
system  of  things,  we  may  then,  in  the  light  of  these  con- 
clusions, proceed  to  retrace  our  steps  synthetically  upward 
through  the  successive  series  and  degrees  of  natural  unfolding, 
and  in  a  general  way  discover,  how  the  system  of  creation,  in 
its  present  completed  form,  came  to  exist,  and  also  what  are 
the  prominent  principles  of  its  constitution  and  government. 
It  is  obvious  that  these  combined  processes  of  Analysis  and 
Synthesis,  if  correctly  pursued,  will  be  far  more  efficient  in 
unfolding  the  principles  and  laws  harmoniously  pervading  and 
governing  all  parts  of  the  united  system  of  things,  and  in. 
exhibiting  the  vital  relations  and  sympathies  subsisting  be- 
tween all  forms  and  kingdoms  of  nature,  than  either  one  of 
these  processes  pursued  singly,  and  without  reference  to  the 
other. 

In  pursuing  this  process  of  inquiry,  strict  attention,  of 
course,  shall  be  paid  to  facts  and  principles  already  firmly 
fixed  upon  a  true  scientific  basis:  but  so  long  as  these  are 
made  the  basis  of  further  reasoning,  and  the  line  of  investi- 
gation is  pursued  in  strict  obedience  to  the  established  laws 
of  induction  and  the  intuitions  of  the  interior  mind,  I  shall 
not  consider  myself  restricted  from  exhibiting,  and,  in  some 
instances,  perhaps,  even  insisting  upon,  the  conclusions  to 
which  this  process  may  conduct,  even  though  these  may,  in 
many  cases,  be  unknown  to  the  prevailing  philosophy. 

2 


CHAPTEE  II. 

DESCENDING  SCALE  OF  TEEBESTEIAL  FOEMS. 

AMONG  the  systems  of  forms  which  surround  man  in  the 
outer  world,  that  most  immediately  related  to  him,  and  next 
below  him  in  the  scale  of  creation,  is  the  Animal  Kingdom. 
Immediately  beneath  this,  serving  as  a  substratum  on  which 
it  rests,  and  the  source  from  which  it  derives  its  subsistence,  is 
the  Vegetable  Kingdom.  This,  again,  rests  upon  the  Mineral 
Kingdom,  from  which,  as  the  next  degree  .  below  it  in  the 
scale  of  existence,  it  derives  'its  nourishment  and  physical 
support. 

Then,  beneath  all  these  kingdoms,  as  an  anterior  condition 
on  which  their  physical  developments,  as  complete  systems, 
necessarily  depend,  is  the  system  of  Geological  Formations. 
These  consist  of  various  gradations,  or  of  lower  and  higher 
stratifications,  which  were  developed  by  degrees,  and  in  suc- 
cessive periods  of  time.  Each  geological  formation  above  the 
primary,  contains  petrifactions  of  plants  and  animals  of  a  de- 
gree of  organization  corresponding  to  the  degree  of  progression 
in  the  earth's  crust  marked  by  the  particular  stratification  in 
which  they  are  found,  the  lowest  organizations  being  associated 
with  the  most  ancient  fossiliferous  rocks,  and  the  highest  with 
the  most  recent,  showing  a  coincident  progress  in  the  inorganic 
and  organic  developments.  Let  us  now  trace  downward  the 
various  geological  stratifications,  from  highest  to  lowest,  in 
order  that  our  minds  may,  by  successive  steps,  be  conducted 


DESCENDING     VIEW.  15 

to  the  terrestrial  conditions  which  preceded  them   all,  and 
served  as  the  material  Germ  of  their  unfolding. 

If  we  could  find  a  section  of  the  earth's  crust  in  which  all 
the  geological  stratifications  existed  in  their  completeness,  and 
were  arranged  on  horizontal  planes,  in  their  natural  order  of 
superposition,  and  if  we  should  then  proceed  to  dig  vertically 
downward  through  the  strata,  we  would  first  pass -through 
layers  of  loam,  fine  sand,  and  gravel,  of  no  very  great  or  very 
definite  thickness.  We  might  find  in  this  deposit  the  re- 
mains of  plants  and  animals  of  existing  species,  together  with 
the  remains  of  man  and  of  his  works.  This  is  the  most  recent, 
or  what  is  called  the  Alluvial  Formation.  Next  we  would 
penetrate  an  irregular  deposit  of  clay,  sand,  gravel,  and  small 
and  large  stones,  more  or  less  rounded  by  friction,  and  which 
is  called  the  Diluvial  Formation.  We  would  next  pass 
through  layers  of  clay,  sand,  gravel,  marl,  etc.,  in  greater  or 
less  degrees  of  consolidation,  portions  of  which  abound  with 
the  remains  of  animals  and  plants  of  species  now  mostly  ex- 
tinct. These  deposits  have  been  roughly  estimated  as  having 
the  aggregate  thickness  of  about  thirteen  hundred  feet,  and 
constitute  what  is  called  the  Tertiary  Formation.  Next  we 
would  penetrate  through  deposits  of  chalk,  and  strata  of  marl- 
stone,  ironstone,  red  sandstone,  etc.,  to  the  depth  of  not  less 
than  five  thousand  feet,  exhuming,  as  we  proceeded,  the 
remains  of  huge  saurians  and  other  animals  of  a  comparatively 
low  organization,  and  which  became  entirely  extinct  before 
the  next  superior  formation  commenced.  These  strata,  with 
their  distinctive  fossils,  are  comprised  in  what  is  called  the 
Secondary  Formation.  We  would  then  descend  through  a 
system  of  deposites  of  not  less  than  three  thousand  feet  in 
thickness,  consisting  of  strata  of  limestone,  slate,  ironstone, 
and  mineral  coal,  constituting  what  is  called  the  Coal  For- 


16  GEOLOGICAL     FORMATIONS. 

mation.  We  would  after  this  descend,  in  succession,  through 
strata  of  limestone,  called  the  mountain  or  carboniferous 
limestone ;  through  what  is  called  the  Old  Red  Sandstone,  and 
thence  through  what  is  known  as  the  Silurian  and  Cambrian 
systems  of  deposits.  These  stratifications,  taken  together, 
have  been  estimated  by  Dr.  John  Pye  Smith,  as  measuring  a 
thickness  of  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
feet.  They  abound  with  fossils  which,  with  perhaps  slight 
exceptions,  and  these  confined  to  their  higher  portions,  are 
exclusively  marine ;  and  the  character  and  magnitude  of  some 
of  these,  and  their  invariableness  of  size  and  constitution  as 
they  occur  in  all  latitudes,  show  that  a  high  and  unvarying 
temperature  prevailed  on  all  parts  of  our  globe  during  the 
period  when  they  flourished,  which  could  not  have  depended, 
in  any  great  degree,  upon  the  solar  rays,  but  is  generally  sup- 
posed to  have  been  caused  by  radiations  from  subterranean 
fire,  then  more  intense  than  at  subsequent  periods.  This 
whole  series  of  stratifications  has  been  called  the  Transition 
Formation,  comprising,  in  the  period  of  its  production,  those 
changes  in  the  physical  conditions  of  the  earth's  surface,  which 
were  necessary  to  qualify  it  for  the  production  of  terrestrial 
vegetation  and  the  healthy  sustenance  of  air-breathing  animals. 
This  completes  the  enumeration  of  the  fossiliferous  stratifi- 
cations, which,  according  to  some  estimates,  are  of  an  aggre- 
gate thickness  exceeding  twenty  miles !  These  all,  including 
the  remains  of  the  plants  and  animals  which  subsisted  during 
their  respective  epochs,  were  quietly  deposited  at  the  bottoms 
of  oceans,  estuaries,  and  lakes,  and  subsequently  consolidated 
and  petrified,  and  thus,  as  faithful  records  of  the  natural  his- 
tory of  our  planet,  they  have  been  preserved  through  the 
untold  ages  which  have  elapsed  from  the  period  of  their  living 
existence  until  present  time ! 


DISTURBANCES  OF  THE  STRATA.      17 

As  we  have  thus  proceeded  through  the  descending  scale  of 
geological  and  palseontological  creations,  we  have  seen  tha-t 
animal  and  vegetable  organisms,  whose  remains  are  entombed 
in  the  rocks,  become  more  and  more  simple.  In  the  lowest 
of  the  fossiliferous  rocks,  the  principal  animal  remains  are  of 
the  class  called  the  Radiata,  which  somewhat  resemble  plants, 
and  form  the  connecting  link  with  the  Vegetable  Kingdom ; 
while  the  plants  are  mainly  of  a  simple  species  of  sea-weed, 
called  fucoides.  It  is,  however,  presumable  that  more  minute, 
and  still  more  simple  species  preceded  these,  but  of  which,  in 
consequence  of  the  delicacy  of  their  texture,  all  traces  have 
become  obliterated. 

Immediately  beneath  the  fossiliferous  rocks,  we  came  to 
thick  strata  of  clay  slate,  hornblende  slate,  mica  slate,  gneiss, 
etc.,  which  contain  no  organic  remains,  and  are  called  the 
Primary  Stratified  Hocks.  Immediately  beneath  these  lost 
strata,  lies  the  Granite,  which  is  unstratified,  and  appears  to 
be  the  original  and  parent  rock,  from  the  comminuted  and 
pulverized  materials  of  which,  combined  with  materials 
descending  from  the  atmosphere,  and  evolved  from  the  central 
mass  of  the  earth,  all  the  stratified  rocks  were  subsequently 
formed. 

Some  of  my  readers,  who  have  not  made  geology  a  par- 
ticular subject  of  study,  may  be  disposed  to  inquire  whether 
any  one  has  thus  actually  digged  into  the  earth  to  the  depth 
of  over  twenty  miles,  and  ascertained  the  character  and  order 
of  geological  formations  to  be  as  I  have  described  them  ?  I 
answer,  no ;  nor  would  such  a  mode  of  exploration  have  been 
necessary.  Owing  to  the  immense  and  frequent  disturbances 
to  which  the  earth's  crust  has  been  subjected,  in  different 
ages,  from  the  explosive  forces  of  internal  fires,  all  the  older 
strata  have,  in  various  places,  been  broken,  and  their  upheaved 


18  GEOLOGICAL     FORMATIONS. 

edges  have  thus  been  exposed  at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and 
may  be  measured  with  little  difficulty.  And,  although  in 
most,  if  not  all,  places,  some  of  the  strata  are  wanting,  yet, 
by  observing  a  number  of  the  associated  links  in  the  chain  of 
development  in  one  place,  and  connecting  and  matching  them 
with  corresponding  sections  of  the  chain  found  in  other  places, 
and  which  extend  higher  or  lower,  the  whole  series  may  be, 
and  has  been,  re-constructed  with  approximate  accuracy  and 
certainty.  And  by  comparing  the  lithological  characters  of 
rocks,  and  especially  the  fossils  which  they  contain,  it  is 
found  that  the  order  of  development  is  invariably  such  as 
I  have  described,  and  is  the  same  in  all  parts  of  the 
world. 

It  was  said  that  the  Granite,  which  seems  to  be  the  oldest 
of  the  rocks,  underlying,  as  it  does,  all  the  stratified  series,  is 
itself  unstratified.  This  is  true,  also,  of  its  various  modifica- 
tions in  the  Porphyry,  Basalt,  and  Greenstone.  These  rocks, 
therefore,  could  not  have  been  formed,  as  other  rocks  were, 
by  sedimentary  deposits  at  the  bottom  of  oceans  and  lakes. 
On  the  contrary,  they  bear  unmistakable  evidences  of  having 
been  originally  in  a  molten  state  from  the  action  of  intense 
heat.  That  no  links  may  be  wanting  in  the  chain  of  our 
further  inductions,  some  of  these  evidences  require  to  be 
briefly  stated,  as  follows : 

It  appears  that,  in  many  instances,  after  thick  beds  of 
stratified  rooks,  including  some  of  the  older  members  of  the 
foseiliferous  series,  were  formed  immediately  over  the  granitic 
rocks,  the  latter  have  flown  upward,  not  only  in  hemispherical 
and  conical,  but  sometimes  in  sharply  angular  forms,  displac- 
ing the  superincumbent  strata,  and  producing  mountain  eleva- 
tions. In  the  upheaving  effort  it  has,  apparently  by  injection, 
filled  up  the  smallest  crevices  of  the  contiguous  rocks,  fre- 


FUSION     BY    HEAT.  19 

quently  bursting  through  them  in  various  directions,  forming 
"  dykes  "  and  veins  with  numerous  branches,  from  an  inch  to 
hundreds  of  feet  in  diameter ;  and,  coming  up  frequently 
through  the  entire  thickness  of  the  strata,  it  has  flown  over 
the  top,  where  it  has,  often  in  large  masses,  subsequently  con- 
solidated. These  dykes  are  often  found  to  contain  imbedded 
fragments  of  the  identical  rocks  through  which  they  appear 
to  have  forced  their  passage  in  their  upward  movement.  The 
manner  in  which  these  fragments  are  imbedded,  proves  to  a 
demonstration,  that  the  mass  by  which  they  are  surrounded 
was  once  in  a  fluid  state,  and  that  it  subsequently  became 
solid,  as  we  now  find  it. 

That  the  original  fluidity  of  these  injected  rocks  was  pro- 
duced by  heat,  is  evident  from  the  following,  among  other 
considerations:  1.  The  crystaline  character  of  some  of  these 
rocks  is  such  as  could  have  been  produced  only  by  heat.  2. 
The  chemical  effects  produced  upon  the  stratified  rocks  by 
contact  of  the  unstratified  ones,  are  similar  to  those  produced 
by  dykes  of  recent  lava.  3.  The  different  unstratified  rocks 
insensibly  pass  into  each  other,  and  indeed  into  modern  lavas. 
Besides,  the  mineral  composition  of  the  rocks,  as  well  as  the 
form  and  position  of  the  dykee,  shows  that  their  original 
fluidity  could  not  have  been  the  result  of  water,  which  is  the 
only  known  natural  element  besides  fire,  to  which  their  solu- 
tion could  possibly  be  attributed  in  any  case. 

But  as  the  rocks  of  wrhich  we  have  spoken  are  primary 
rocks,  and  serve  as  the  basis  of  all  stratified  rocks  in  all  places, 
and  as  they  must,  therefore,  have  universally  prevailed  ove* 
the  surface  of  the  earth  before  any  other  rocks  were  formed, 
if  their  original  state  was  that  of  igneous  fluidity,  it  may  be 
assumed  that  such  was  the  condition  of  the  whole  globe — 
that  it  was  one  vast  ball  of  molten  lava !  This  is  now  gener- 


20         GEOLOGICAL  FORMATIONS. 

ally  the  opinion  of  geologists,  and  is  confirmed  by  the  follow- 
ing, among  other  considerations : 

1.  The  earth  is  not  a  perfect  globe,  but  an  oblate  spheroid, 
flattened  at  the  poles — the  polar  diameter  being  about  twenty- 
six  miles  shorter  than  the  equatorial.    This  is  the  form  which 
it  would  necessarily  have  assumed  from  the  centrifugal  force 
caused  by  diumal  revolution,  supposing  it  to  have  been  orig- 
inally in  a  fluid  state. 

2.  There  is  good  evidence  that  our  planet  is  still  a  vast  ball 
of  liquid  fire,  surrounded  by  a  thin  crust,  which,  in  thickness, 
bears  no  greater  proportion  to  the  general  mass  of  the  earth, 
than  the  egg-shell  bears  to  the  general  mass  of  the  egg.    From 
careful    observations  which  have  been  made  during  many 
years,  upon  the  temperature  of  deep  mines  and  the  waters  of 
artesian  wells,  in  various  parts  of  the 'world,  it  is  found  that, 
after  descending  beyond  the  reach  of  solar  influence,  the  tem- 
perature invariably  increases,  in  all  places,  at  the  average  rate 
of  about  one  degree  Fahrenheit  for  every  forty-five  or  fifty 
feet  of  descent.     And  this  rule  uniformly  holds  good  to  the 
greatest  depths  to  which  the  earth  has  been  penetrated. 

Now,  assuming  fifty  degrees  as  the  average  temperature  at 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  taking  the  mean  ratio  of  increase 
at  one  degree  for  every  fifty  feet  of  descent,  we  should,  at  this 
rate,  at  a  depth  of  a  little  more  than  sixty-five  miles,  reach  a 
temperature  of  seven  thousand  degrees,  which  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  melt  all  known  rocks.  Supposing  this  state  of  igneous 
fusion  to  extend  from  the  comparatively  thin  crust  of  the  earth 
on  all  sides,  to  the  center,  we  have  still  a  mass  of  molten  lava 
of  more  than  seven  thousand  miles  in  diameter.  If  we  suppose 
this  mass  to  become  sometimes  agitated  in  its  higher  portions 
by  internal  gasses,  or  by  the  percolation  of  water  through 
fissures  in  the  superincumbent  strata,  we  have  a  sufficient  ex- 


THE     PRIMITIVE     STATE.  21 

planation  of  earthquakes,  volcanic  eruptions,  and  of  the  im- 
mense mountain  upheavels  which  have  occurred  at  different 
epochs  during  the  geological  formations;  while,  aside  from 
the  hypothesis  of  internal  fusion,  the  solution  of  these  latter 
phenomena  would  be  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible. 

Thus  have  geologists  reasoned,  from  substantial  data,  con- 
cerning the  early  state  of  our  planet.  But,  though  at  this  point 
the  data  of  retrospective  reasonings  become  less  certain  than 
those  which  have  hitherto  guided  us,  we  may  presume,  as 
highly  probable,  not  to  say  absolutely  certain,  that  not  even 
this  was  strictly  the  primitive  state  of  our  planet — that  the 
matter  which  composes  it  was  in  conditions  anterior  and  ger- 
minal even  to  this ;  and  if  we  extend  backward  our  chain  of 
analogical  inductions  in  a  direct  line^  it  will  lead  us  to  a  con- 
dition of  still  more  intense  heat — heat  that  would  be  compat- 
ible only  with  the  existence  of  matter  in  the  form  of  vapor. 
It  is.  then,  to  say  the  least,  an  hypothesis  certainly  not  unrea- 
sonable, that  the  matter  of  our  earth  was  once  in  the  state  of 
igneous  gas,  from  the  cooling  and  condensation  of  which  it 
assumed  successively  the  fluid,  and  then  its  present  superfici- 
ally solid  state.  But  for  the  present  we  offer  this  only  as  an 
hypothesis  to  which  analogies  thus  far  developed,  directly 
point.  Such  further  and  more  conclusive  evidences  of  its 
truth,  as  scientific  data  now  afford,  will  be  incidentally  brought 
into  view  as  we  proceed. 


CHAPTEK   III. 

THE   NATUEAL    HISTOEY    OF   THE    SOLAE   SYSTEM   ANA- 
LOGICALLY  EETEACED. 

ADMITTING  that  the  foregoing  hypothesis  as  to  the  original 
condition  of  the  earth's  materials  has  any  foundation  in  truth, 
we  find  in  it  the  link  which  connects  geology  with  astronomy. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  earth  is  only  one  member 
of  the  great  family  of  planets  belonging  to  the  solar  system  ; 
and  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  the 
same  planetary  family  have  the  same,  or  a  similar,  origin — 
especially  as  they  have  the  same  oblately  spheroidal  form, 
and  observe  the  same  laws  of  diurnal  and  orbitual  revolution. 
If  the  earth,  then,  was  originally  in  a  state  of  igneous  gas,  so 
(we  may  suppose)  were  fkey ;  and  before  the  incipient  pro- 
cesses of  spheroidation  commenced,  the  materials  of  all  of 
them  may  have  commingled,  and  probably  did  commingle, 
together  in  one  undistinguishable  mass. 

Though  this  hypothesis  of  an  original  gaseous  state  of  the 
earth  and  planets  rests  upon  a  foundation  of  its  own  (being  a 
portion  of  the  chain  of  analogous  developments  prolonged 
directly  backward  from  the  links  of  substantial  geological 
facts),  it  is  precisely  in  accordance  with  the  nebular  theory  of 
the  origin  of  worlds  and  systems,  which  theory  also  rests  upon 
independent  grounds  of  reasoning.  As  a  conviction  of  the 
general  truthfulness  of  this  theory  is  important  as  a  basis  of 
ulterior  ideas  to  be  presented  in  this  treatise,  the  patient 


RESOLUTION     OF     NEBULJ2.  23 

attention  of  the  reader  is  solicited  while  we  briefly  explain 
its  nature,  and  unfold  a  summary  of  the  evidences  on  which 
it  is  founded. 

The  idea  that  nebulae,  or  loose  masses  of  fiery  vapor,  which 
seemed  to  be  floating  in  the  depths  of  immensity,  might  form 
the  materials  out  of  which  nature  elaborated  suns  and  planets, 
was  originally  propounded  as  a  conjecture,  by  Sir  William 
Herschel ;  but  it  was  subsequently  brought  into  more  definite 
and  tangible  form  by  Laplace,  Comte,  Nichol,  and  others. 
The  theory  supposes  that  loose  masses  of  nebulous  vapor,  at 
first  without  definite  form  or  movement,  gradually  assumed, 
by  virtue  of  gravitation,  a  regular  spheroidal  and  rotating  form, 
lightest  at  the  circumference,  and  gradually  increasing  in  den- 
sity toward  the  center,  at  which  point  the  greatest  density  is 
attained.  It  supposes  that  such  forms  were  the  original  forms 
of  suns — that  the  substance  of  these,  in  this  diffused  state, 
originally  extended  from  their  present  condensed,  solar  spheres, 
to  the  outermost  limits  of  the  planetary  systems  which  now 
revolve  about  them ;  and  that  by  the  combined  processes  of 
rotation  and  further  condensation,  successive  and  concentric 
rings  were  formed  on  the  outer  limits  of  the  nebulous  disks, 
of  which  we  have  a  faint  illustration  in  the  rings  of  Saturn. 
These  rings,  it  is  thought,  subsequently  became  broken  up, 
when  the  matter  composing  them  naturally  agglomerated  into 
spheres,  which,  by  an  analogous  process  of  condensation  and 
evolution  of  rings,  produced  planets  and  their  satellites. 

It  is  but  just  to  remark  that  many  of  the  supposed  nebula, 
which  Herschel  thought  might  form  the  materials  of  future 
suns  and  systems,  have  subsequently,  by  the  application  of 
powerful  telescopes,  and  especially  that  of  Lord  Ross,  been 
resolved  into  stars,  apparently  so  close  together  as  to  cause 
the  general  hazy  appearance  which  they  present  when  viewed 


24:  THE     NEBULAE     HYPOTHESIS. 

with  the  naked  eye,  or  through  a  telescope  of  low  power. 
It  is  reasonably  suspected  that  many  of  the  still  unresolved 
nebulae  might  yield  to  a  still  higher  telescopic  power,  were 
such  available  to  science  and  art ;  and  acting  upon  this  sup- 
position, some  few  astronomers  have  abandoned  the  nebular 
theory,  in  which  they  previously  believed,  and  attempted  to 
prove  its  impossibility.  But  in  reference  to  this  change  of 
astronomical  faith  from  such  a  cause,  Professor  Michell 
forcibly  remarks,  that  "  Herschel  only  adopted  the  [nebular] 
theory  after  he  had  resolved  many  hundred  of  the  nebulae  into 
stars ;  and,  if  there  ever  existed  a  reason  for  accepting  the 
truth  of  this  remarkable  speculation,  that  reason  has  been 
scarcely  affected  in  any  degree,  by  recent  discoveries." 

The  phenomenon  of  nebulous  stars,  especially,  still  remains 
in  its  unimpaired  force,  as  an  argument  for  the  probable  truth 
of  the  theory  in  question.  These  stars  are  spherical  bodies, 
bright  in  the  center,  from  which  there  is  a  gradual  shading 
off  into  undistinguishable  dimness  as  the  circumference  is  ap- 
proached. They  exist  in  all  degrees  of  apparent  concentration, 
from  a  diffused  blur  with  a  no  very  distinct  nucleus,  to  a  well 
defined  star  surrounded  by  a  haze.  What  can  these  bodies  be 
but  masses  of  primeval  matter,  in  various  degrees  of  pro- 
gression between  their  original,  or  most  chaotic  state,  and  that 
of  fully  developed  suns  and  planets?  But  these  are  pre- 
cisely the  various  conditions  which  the  nebular  theory  sup- 
poses to  take  place  during  the  different  and  progressive 
stages  of  the  process  by  which  suns  and  planets  are  ultimately 
formed. 

A  brief  summary  of  the  further  proofs  of  the  nebular  theory 
may  be  presented  as  follows : 

1.  It  has  already  been  remarked  that  the  earth  is  an  oblate 
spheroid,  flattened  at  the  poles  and  bulged  at  the  equator. 


FORM     OF     PLANETS.  25 

This  same  fact  is  also  observed  in  relation  to  other  planets, 
the  outer  ones,  owing  to  the  greater  rapidity  of  their  rotatory 
motions,  being  much  more  bulged  and  flattened  than  the  inner 
ones.  To  the  writer  it  is  not  a  little  surprising  that  this  form 
of  planetary  bodies  has  not,  of  itself,  established  among 
astronomers  the  universal  conviction  that  these  bodies  were 
formed  by  a  contraction  of  their  materials  from  a  previously 
diffused  state.  Such,  it  appears,  must  necessarily  have  been 
the  case,  if  their  superior  equatorial  diameter  had,  in  its  origin, 
any  connection  with  the  centrifugal  force  produced  by  rotatory 
motion.  For  if  the  materials  of  the  planet,  while  in  an 
originally  globular  form,  had  commenced  being  thrown  outward 
at  the  equator,  by  the  centrifugal  force  generated  by  revo- 
lution, no  known  counter-force  could  have  prevented  them 
from  being  all,  or  nearly  all,  thrown  outward,  and  continually 
farther  and  farther  from  the  center,  until  the  planet  would 
have  lost  its  identity.  Especially  would  this  have  been  the 
result,  if  the  original  velocity  of  revolution  had  continued  un- 
diminished.  For  it  is  evident  that  the  farther  a  particle,  or 
collection  of  particles,  is  thrown  from  an  axis  around  which 
they,  in  a  given  period,  may  revolve,  the  greater  is  the  centri- 
fugal force  generated  by  the  rotation,  and  hence  the  greater 
is  its  tendency  to  fly  off  still  farther;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  farther  a  particle  is  thrown  from  a  center  of 
attraction,  the  less  becomes  the  attractive  or  centripetal  force 
to  retain  it  from  flying  off  still  farther. 

The  forces  which  produced  the  bulged  form  of  planets  at 
the  equator  are  undoubtedly  the  same  as  those  which  pro- 
duced the  rings  of  Saturn.  Now,  the  rings  of  Saturn  com- 
plete a  revolution  in  10  hours  32  minutes  and  15  seconds; 
while  the  primary  itself  revolves  in  10  hours  16  minutes  and 
1  second,  or  in  a  period  of  only  16  minutes  and  14  seconds 

3 


26  THE     NEBULAE     HYPOTHESIS. 

less.  If,  therefore,  there  was  originally  generated,  by  rotatory 
motion,  at  Saturn's  equator,  an  amount  of  centrifugal  force 
sufficient  to  throw  off  particles  to  the  present  position  of  the 
rings  of  that  body,  certainly  the  immensely  increased  centrifu- 
gal force  generated  by  the  revolution  of  those  rings  in  about 
the  same  period,  would  have  thrown  the  same  particles  still 
farther,  and  would  probably  have  dissipated  them  into  chaos — 
especially  as  the  attractive  force  of  the  primary,  at  that  dis- 
tance, must  have  exerted  considerably  less  influence  upon 
them. 

The  same  reasoning  applies  with  equal  force  to  that  ring,  or 
circle  of  attached  matter,  which  rises  above  the  line  of  sphe- 
ricity at  Saturn's  equator,  and  also  at  the  equators  of  other 
planets,  and  of  the  earth.  The  acting  forces  are  of  the  same 
nature,  and  bear  similar  relations  to  each  other  in  both  places, 
the  only  difference  being  a  difference  in  the  degrees  of  in- 
tensity with  which  they  act  in  the  different  positions. 

These  considerations  show  that  in  all  stages  of  the  process 
by  which  planetary  bodies  were  formed,  the  attractive,  con- 
tractive, or  centripetal  force,  had  decided  predominance  over  the 
centrifugal.  Supposing  the  two  forces  to  have  always  acted 
together  after  both  became  established,  the  centrifugal  force, 
it  is  true,  must  have  always  restrained  and  modified  the 
intensity  of  the  centripetal,  in  the  direction  of  the  plane  of 
rotation,  but  could  never  throw  farther  into  space  a  particle 
which  the  centripetal  or  attractive,  had  succeeded,  in  defiance 
of  the  opposing,  force,  in  bringing  from  a  greater  to  a  less 
distance  from  the  center. 

The  bulged  form  of  the  earth  and  other  planets,  therefore, 
could  not  have  been  produced  by  a  throwing  out  of  particles 
at  the  equator,  but  rather  by  a  drawing  in  of  particles  from 
the  poles,  where  the  attractive  force  was  comparatively  unre- 


GRADATION     OF     DENSITIES.  27 

strained  by  the  centrifugal ;  while  this  latter  force,  attaining 
its  maximum  at  the  equator,  meets  and  wards  off  the  gravi- 
tating particles  in  their  rush  toward  the  center,  and  thus  the 
two  forces  finally  settle  into  an  exact  equipoise,  of  which  the 
oblately  spheroidal  form  of  the  planet  is  an  equally  exact 
expression. 

These  considerations  seam  to  sufficiently  prove  that  the 
earth  (before  shown  to  haye  been  originally  in  a  state  of 
igneous,  if  not  gaseous  fluid)  was  formed  by  the  predominat- 
ing force  of  attraction,  and  hence  contraction,  acting  upon 
materials  in  a  rarer  state,  and  reducing  them  to  their  present 
dense  form.  The  attractive  and  contractive  operation  must, 
of  course,  have  proceeded  through  a  progressive  series  of 
analogous  stages,  which  somewhere  must  have  had  a  begin- 
ning ;  and  we  can  not  conceive  of  any  possible  beginning  short 
of  the  greatest  possible  diffusion — a  state  of  diffusion  which, 
originally  applying  to  the  materials  of  all  planets,  must  have 
brought  them  all  into'  the  form  of  one  common  vapory 
mass. 

Though  this  argument,  in  proof  of  the  nebular  theory, 
seems  hitherto  to  have  generally  escaped  the  notice  of 
astronomical  writers,  it  is  one  which,  nevertheless,  deserves  to 
be  pondered  and  borne  in  mind. 

2.  Another  argument  for  the  same  theory,  is  derived  from 
the  regular  gradations  of  densities  of  planets,  from  innermost 
to  outermost.  Thus  it  is  stated,  on  the  basis  of  mathematical 
calculations,  that  Mercury  must  be  about  the  weight  of  so 
much  lead ;  Venus  is  nearly  six  times  the  weight  of  so  much 
water ;  the  Earth,  as  a  whole,  is  four  and  a  half  times  the 
weight  of  water ;  Mars  is  a  little  over  three  times  the  weight 
of  water ;  Jupiter  is  a  small  fraction  over  the  weight  of  so 
much  water ;  Saturn  is  less  than  half  that  specific  weight,  or 


28  THE     NEBULAE     HYPOTHESIS. 

about  the  weight  of  so  much  cork ;  and  Herschel  manifests  a 
corresponding  decrease  of  density.  This  regular  gradation  in 
the  specific  densities  of  the  planets,  in  the  order  of  their 
occurrence,  from  innermost  to  outermost,  is  precisely  what  it 
should  be,  supposing  that  they  were  all  formed  by  the  oper- 
ations of  a  common  law,  from  an  original  sphere  of  fluid 
matter,  which  must  have  been  most  dense  near  the  center, 
and  most  rare  on  its  outer  extremities. 

There  is  a  similar  relation  between  the  distances  of  the 
different  planets ;  for,  proceeding  outward  from  Mercury,  each 
successive  planet  (including  the  asteroids  as  equivalent  to  one 
planet)  is  about  double  the  distance  of  the  previous  planet 
from  the  sun.  This  curious  relation  of  distances  seems,  in 
like  manner,  to  argue  their  production  by  a  common  cause, 
and  by  the  operations  of  a  common  law,  of  which  the  only 
explanation  yet  found  seems  to  be  given  in  the  nebular 
theory. 

3.  If  the  theory  in  question  is  admitted  as  the  true  one,  it 
inight  accordingly  be  supposed,  that  after  the  evolution  of 
Mercury,  which  is  the  planet  nearest  the  sun,  there  would  still 
be  a  residuum  of  nebulous  or  planetary  matter  in  an  unformed 
state,  surrounding  the  more  dense  mass  of  the  sun.     Accord- 
ingly there  actually  appears  to  be  an  extensive  mass  of  attenu- 
ated matter  surrounding  the  sun,  and  is  sometimes  visible 
immediately  after  sunset,  or  before  sunrise,  as  a  conic,  lumin- 
ous streak,  projected  from  the  horizon  in  the  direction  of  the 
path  of  the  sun,  and  which  is  called  the  "  Zodiacal  light." 

4.  There    are  still    many  planets,  or  wandering  celestial 
bodies,  in  a  nebulous   state,  in  which  state  they  are  called 
"comets."     These  appear  to  have  been  formed  from  a  re- 
siduum of  attenuated  matter,  after  the  agglomeration  of  the 
denser  materials  took  place. 


5.  M.  Comte,  of  Paris,  has  proved,  according  to  principles 
by  which  periods  of  rotation  maintain  a  relation  to  the  mass 
of  the  given  rotating  body,  that  the  sidereal  year  of  each  planet 
actually  corresponds  to  the  period  in  which  the  sun  must  have 
rotated  on  his  axis,  supposing  his  mass  to  have  extended  to 
the  orbits  of  such  planets ;  and  he  also  ascertained  that  the 
periods  of  rotation  of  the  primary  planets  with  their  mass,  in 
a  state  of  vapor,  extending  to  the  orbits  of  their  satellites, 
must,  in  like  manner,  have  corresponded  with  the  present  or- 
bitual  periods  of  those  satellites. 

6.  A  new  planetary  law  has  recently  been  discovered  by 
Mr.  Kirkwood,  which  seems  to  have  an  important  bearing  on 
the  question  at  issue.     This  law,  as  I  understand  it,  is,   that 
the  square  of  the  number  of  rotations  of  any  given  planet  in  its 
year,  is  to  the  square  of  the  number  of  rotations  of  any  other 
planet  in  its  year,  as  the  cube  of  the  diameter  of  the  sphere 
of  attraction  of  the  first  planet,  is  to  the  cube  of  the  diameter 
of  the  sphere  of  attraction  of  the  second  planet.*     Thus,  for 
instance,  the  number  of  rotations  of  the  earth  in  its  year,  bears 
a  definite  relation  to  the  quantity  of  matter  (or  the  amount  of 
attractive  force)  in  the  Earth,  in  Mars,  and  in  Venus. 

Here,  then,  is  an  indication  of  another  relation  existing  be- 
tween the  forces  and  movements  of  the  different  planets,  so 
definite  as  to  preclude  every  reasonable  supposition  that  it 
came  by  chance,  and  a  relation  which,  in  common  with  facts 
before  noticed,  seems  to  refer  all  the  planets  to  a  common 
parentage,  and  common  law  of  production,  which  is  accounted 
for  only  by  the  nebular  theory.  Certainly  so  many  remark- 

*  The  sphere  of  attraction  of  a  planet,  is  a  circle  whose  radius  is  determined  by  the 
point  between  two  contiguous  planets  in  conjunction,  where  an  object  would  be  at- 
tracted to  neither  of  them,  but  would  be  exactly  poised  between  the  two  contending 
forces.  For  an  account  of  Kirkwood's  discovery,  see  Silliman's  American  Journal  of 
Science,  Vol.  ix.,  Second  Series,  p.  395. 


30  THE     NEBULAE     HYPOTHESIS. 

ably  concurrent  facts,  pointing  to  the  same  conclusion  as  to 
the  origin  of  our  planetary  system,  can  not  reasonably  be  set 
down  as  so  many  mere  fortuitous  coincidences. 

Finally,  the  theory  in  question  is  the  only  one  which  does 
not  either  involve  inexplicable  and  inconceivable  mysteries,  or 
suppositions  totally  unfounded  in  any  of  the  known  laws  of 
causation.  This  theory,  on  the  other  hand,  commends  itself 
to  human  reason  and  intuition,  without  being  encumbered  with 
any  serious  difficulties ;  and,  as  it  is  confessedly  unphilosophi- 
cal  to  look  for  an  explanation  of  a  phenomenon  without  the 
sphere  of  known  natural  laws,  when  a  full  explanation  may 
be  found  within  the  sphere  of  those  laws,  the  nebular  theory 
may  be  considered  as  established,  at  least  until  it  is  invalidated 
by  further  discoveries. 


CHAFTEK    IY. 

THE  NATURAL   HISTORY   OF    THE    SIDEREAL  UNIVERSE 
ANALOGICALLY    RETRACED. 

FROM  contemplations  of  our  own  solar  system,  let  us  now 
extend  our  observations  and  reflections  into  the  immeasurable 
realms  of  the  stellar  universe  beyond,  and  see  what  gleams  of 
light  we  can  obtain  in  reference  to  the  natural  history  of  that 
grand  System  of  systems,  of  which  our  own  congeries  of 
worlds  forms,  as  it  were,  but  an  atom.  Facts  and  analogies 
which  need  not  here  be  particularized,  have  established  the 
universal  belief  among  astronomers  that  the  so-called  "  fixed" 
stars  are  but  so  many  remote  suns  shining  to  other  systems. 
These  are  not  distributed  equally  through  the  celestial  spaces, 
as  though  they  had  been  scattered  at  random  from  an  Omnip- 
otent hand  ;  but  they  are  arranged  in  distinct  clusters^  or  firma- 
ments, so  called,  which  have  little  or  no  apparent  connection 
with  each  other.  Telescopic  observations  have  proved  that 
the  bright  girdle  called  the  "  Milky  Way,"  which  surrounds 
our  heavens,  is  only  a  grand  congeries  of  stars,  so  remote,  and 
owing  to  their  remoteness  from  us,  apparently  so  near  to  each 
other,  that  their  intermingling  rays  reach  us  only  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  confused  whitish  light.  Of  this  vast  zone  of 
shining  orbs,  all  the  less  remote  stars,  including  our  own  sun, 
are  members,  their  varying  directions  being,  in  a  measure,  the 
result  of  differences  in  their  distances  from  the  point  of  observa- 
tion, and  hence,  of  the  different  angles  at  which  they  are  viewed. 


32  THE     SIDE  HEAL     UNIVERSE. 

Not  only  have  the  relative  distances  of  various  portions  of 
this  grand  cluster  been  proximately  determined,  but  the  spaces 
beyond  have  been  sounded.  The  process  by  which  these  re- 
sults have  been  accomplished,  may  be  easily  brought  within 
the  reader's  comprehension  by  the  following  illustrations: 
Suppose  any  given  object  is  removed  from  a  point  of  observa- 
tion to  a  distance  at  which  it  is  barely  discernible  by  the 
naked  eye.  Now,  a  telescope  which  has  the  power  of  pene- 
trating space  to  ten  times  the  distance  that  can  be  reached 
with  the  naked  eye,  would  show  that  same  object,  with  the 
same  degree  of  distinctness,  ten  times  as  far  off.  Take,  then, 
a  telescope  of  twenty  degrees  of  space-penetrating  power,  and 
remove  the  object  twenty  times  its  first  distance,  and  it  will 
still  be  seen  with  equal  distinctness  and  apparent  nearness. 
And  so  also  of  still  larger  telescopes  and  correspondingly 
farther  distances. 

Now,  when  we  gaze  into  the  heavens  on  a  clear  night,  with 
the  naked  eye,  we  observe,  in  any  given  portion  of  the  Milky 
Way  a  distinct  number  of  stars,  the  faintest  of  which  are 
barely  discernible.  If  the  astronomer,  then,  takes  a  telescope 
of  ten  powers,  as  compared  with  the  unassisted  eye,  and  sur- 
veys the  same  field,  all  the  stars  before  observed  will  appear 
with  increased  brilliancy,  besides  which  many  more  will  be 
visible,  the  remotest  and  faintest  of  which  may  be  presumed 
to  be  ten  times  as  far  off  as  the  farthest  ones  which  previously 
appeared.  He  then  takes  a  still  larger  telescope,  and  still 
more  objects  appear,  the  remotest  of  which  may,  in  like  man- 
ner, be  presumed  to  be  situated  in  a  relative  depth  of  space 
proportioned  to  the  increased  degree  of  telescopic  power.  So 
correspondingly  of  a  larger,  and  still  larger,  instrument,  until 
one  is  obtained  which  reveals  no  more  stars,  but  only  shows 
those  in  the  same  field  of  view,  in  increased  brightness.  The 


THE     HEAVENS     SOUNDED.  33 

space-penetrating  power  is  again  augmented,  and  still  no  more 
stars  are  brought  into  view.  The  observer,  therefore,  legiti 
mately  concludes  that  he  has  reached  the  outer  limits  of  the 
great  cluster  to  which  we  belong,  and  is  now  traversing  the 
blank  void  beyond. 

But  is  he  to  conclude  that  he  has  sounded  the  system  of 
stellar  creations  to  its  remotest  depths,  and  that  beyond  these 
boundaries,  there  are  no  more  vestiges  of  the  Creator's 
energy  7  Let  him  augment  the  optical  power  but  one  degree 
more,  and  perhaps  in  the  dim  and  awful  distance  he  will  be- 
hold a  faint  and  scarcely  discernible  speck  or  streak  of  whitish 
light.  In  the  excitement  of  irrepressible  curiosity,  he  hastens 
to  direct  to  the  spot  the  largest  telescope  the  observatory 
affords,  and  that  same  whitish  spot  glows  into  myriads  of  beau- 
tiful stars — another  galaxy  or  Milky  Way — another  firma- 
ment, perchance,  displaying  its  glories  to  its  own  unnumbered 
worlds,  and  pealing  its  own  notes  of  silent  harmony,  respon- 
sive to  the  movements  of  all  kindred  systems ! 

As  by  the  indefatigable  exertions  of  the  two  Herschels,  the 
heavens  have  been  swept  by  the  telescope  in  all  directions, 
more  than  two  thousand  five  hundred  of  these  isolated  stellar 
systems  have  been  brought  to  light,  some  smaller  and  some 
larger  than  the  grand  cluster  in  the  midst  of  which  our  own 
sun  and  system  are  situated. 

Let  us  now  look  at  some  of  the  phenomena  which  these  vast 
starry  congregations  present,  and  from  which  inference  may 
be  drawn  as  to  whether,  in  regard  to  their  internal  structure 
and  laws,  and  hence  their  modes  of  origin,  they  have  any  thing 
in  common  with  our  own  solar  system,  and  whether  the  anal- 
ogies of  one  may  be  applied  in  unfolding  the  mysteries  of  the 
other. 

And  the  first  thing  that  naturally  attracts  attention  in  such 


34  THE     SIDEEEAL     UNIVERSE. 

an  investigation,  is  the  shapes  and  apparent  relative  densities 
of  these  starry  clusters.  By  telescopic  measurements  of  rela- 
tive distances  in  relative  directions,  accomplished  in  the  man- 
ner before  illustrated,  Sir  William  Herschel  decided  that  the 
great  cluster,  of  which  our  own  sun  is  a  member,  and  of  which 
the  greater  portion  of  stars,  owing  to  their  immense  distances, 
seem  to  rest  on  one  general  plain,  and  surround  us  in  the 
great  zone  called  the  "  Milky  Way,"  is  of  an  irregular  form, 
approaching  that  of  a  circle,  but  thick  in  the  middle,  and  thin 
toward  the  edges,  in  one  of  which  there  is  a  horizontal  split 
or  opening.  Other  clusters  are  of  all  conceivable  forms,  but 
of  these  forms  the  round,  or  oblately  spheroidal,  most  pre- 
vails. Even  in  elongated,  curved,  angular,  and  branching 
clusters,  there  are  often  apparently  several  centers  of  incipi- 
ent rotundity.  Generally  these  centers  are  well  denned,  and 
toward  them  the  stars,  though  with  an  inappreciable  motion, 
are  apparently  flowing  from  all  directions,  becoming  thicker 
and  more  compressed  as  they  approach,  and  being  thinner, 
and  gradually  shading  ^>ff  into  invisibility,  at  more  distant 
removes. 

The  general  uniformity  in  the  appearances  of  these  spherical 
aggregations,  and  especially  of  their  comparative  denseness  in 
the  center,  which  thence  gradually  and  regularly  diminishes, 
in  all  directions,  toward  the  circumference,  shows  that  their 
aggregation  is  governed  by  some  grand  law ;  and  what  can 
this  be  but  the  familiar  law  of  Gravitation — that  identical  law 
which,  in  the  same  form  of  action,  is  so  potent  in  our  own 
system,  giving  sphericity  to  every  collection  of  fluid  particles, 
from  those  which  compose  the  planet,  to  those  which  form  the 
dew-drop  1  It  is  gratifying  to  find  in  those  remote  creations 
such  distinct  indications  of  a  property  which  is  possessed  in 
common  with  our  own  system,  and  which  binds  the  nearest 


VARIABLE     STARS.  35 

and  remotest  forms  in  the  celestial  spaces,  in  one  common 
bond  of  sympathy  and  brotherhood. 

But  the  discovery  of  the  law  of  gravitation,  as  applicable  to 
these  distant  worlds  as  well  as  to  the  orbs  of  our  own  planetary 
system,  naturally  engenders  the  presumption  that  the  whole 
series  of  laws  and  general  operations  with  which  gravitation  is 
here  necessarily  connected,  applies  to  them  also,  with  little  or 
no  modification.  And  a  further  inquiry  will  disclose  celestial 
phenomena  which  tend  greatly  to  strengthen  this  presumption, 
if  not  to  convert  it  into  a  positive  conviction. 

Contemplating  our  own  solar  system,  we  are  struck  with 
the  fact  that  revolutionary  motion  every  where  prevails.  The 
planets  are  constantly  whirling  upon  their  axes,  and  perform- 
ing their  grand  orbitual  circuits  in  the  heavens.  The  sun  him- 
self rotates  upon  his  own  center,  once  in  about  twenty-seven 
days.  -This  revolution  has  been  ascertained  by  the  periodical 
variation  of  the  position  of  spots  on  his  disk. 

But  several  of  the  stars  of  our  firmament  exhibit  a  phe- 
nomenon similar  to  this,  from  which  our  sun's  rotatory  motion 
has  been  inferred.  That  is,  they  alternately,  and  in  regular 
periods,  give  forth  a  greater  and  a  less  degree  of  light,  as 
though  they  had  a  brightest  side  and  a  side  of  a  less  degree  of 
brightness,  which  were  alternately,  and  at  regular  intervals, 
presented  to  us  by  a  revolution  upon  their  axes.  This  is  one 
of  the  facts  which  have  confirmed  astronomers  in  the  otherwise 
very  natural  presumption,  that  the  stars  are  suns  like  our  own, 
and  whose  apparent  diminutiveness  is  only  owing  to  their 
immense  distances. 

There  are  also  many  instances  in  which  the  varying  relative 
positions  of  t\YO  or  more  stars  are  such  as  to  indicate  a  revo- 
lution aroinid  each  other,  and  around  a  common  center.  Some 
of  these  stars  have  vast  periods,  as,  for  instance,  the  double 


36  THE     SIDEKEAL     UNIVERSE. 

star  Castor,  whose  constituents  revolve  around  each  other  in 
215  years;  Gamma,  in  the  constellation  of  the  Virgin,  whose 
constituents  revolve  in  628  years  ;  Gamma  of  the  Lion,  whose 
constituents  revolve  in  1200  years ;  and  Mizar  and  Alcor,  in 
the  tail  of  the  Great  Bear,  which,  according  to  Professor 
Nichol,  would  probably  consume  not  much  less  than  the  in- 
conceivable period  of  190,000  years  in  completing  a  single 
revolution  around  each  other !  Others  accomplish  their  revo- 
lutions in  much  less  than  100  years. 

By  establishing  the  fact  that  rotatory  and  orbitual  motions 
are  experienced  by  many  of  the  stars,  the  extreme  probability 
is  at  the  same  time  established  on  analogical  grounds,  that 
similar  motions  are  experienced,  with,  perhaps,  some  modifi- 
cations, by  all  stars.  We  are,  at  least,  not  without  strong, 
not  to  say  demonstrative  evidence,  that  motions  of  this  kind 
are  going  on  in  the  celestial  spaces,  on  a  much  grander  scale 
than  any  we  have  yet  described.  By  comparing  the  positions 
of  the  stars  in  the  modem  heavens  with  their  positions  as  rep- 
resented in  ancient  catalogues,  Sir  William  Herschel  found 
that  in  one  quarter  of  the  firmament,  they  were  apparently 
drawing  nigher  together,  while  in  the  opposite,  quarter  they 
were  apparently  receding  from  each  other.  To  account  for 
these  changing  appearances,  Herschel  conjectured  that  our  own 
sun,  with  all  his  retinue  of  planets,  was  moving  in  some  grand 
path  toward  a  point  in  the  constellation  Hercules.  After 
much  doubt  and  many  critical  examinations,  subsequent 
investigators  have  succeeded  in  establishing  this  opinion  on 
an  indubitable  basis. 

But  in  the  hands  of  Argelander,  Struve,  Peters,  and  especi- 
ally of  Maedler,  the  theory  of  this  solar  motion  was  made  to 
assume  still  more  definite  form.  Inferring,  with  others,  from 
analogy,  that  the  path  described  by  our  luminary  must  be  the 


3T 

curve  of  an  orbit  around  some  remote  center,  the  latter  of 
these  astronomers  betook  himself  to  the  examination  of 
ancient  catalogues  of  stars,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  if  there 
was  any  discoverable  district  in  the  heavens  where  all  the  ap- 
parent motions  of  the  stars  were  such  as  to  comply  with  the 
conditions  which  must  necessarily  characterize  a  central  region. 
Such  a  district  was  found;  and  the  star  ALCYONE,  in  the 
cluster  Pleiades,  was  decided  to  be  its  center.  Around  this 
point,  therefore,  our  own  sun,  and  the  whole  firmamental 
cluster  to  which  it  belongs,  were  supposed  to  be  revolving 
with  immense  velocity,  in  orbits  coincident  with  the  general 
plane  of  the  Milky  Way,  and  requiring  no  less  than  eighteen 
millions  of  years  to  accomplish  a  single  revolution  ! 

Whatever  diversity  of  opinion  there  may  exist  relative  to 
the  legitimacy  of  the  conclusion  of  Maedler,  which  locates  the 
center  of  alleged  orbitual  motion  at  the  point  occupied  by  the 
star  Alcyone,  I  believe  it  is  now  generally,  if  not  universally 
admitted  by  astronomers,  that  such  orbitual  motion  does  exist 
around  some  center,  not  very  remote  from  that  region. 

The  evidence  upon  this  point  greatly  strengthens  the 
analogy  which,  of  itself,  points  to  the  conclusion  that  those 
isolated  globular  and  other  clusters  of  stars,  situated  in  the  re- 
moter realms  of  space,  and  which  appear  to  have  been  aggre- 
gated by  internal  power  of  gravitation,  are  also  scenes  of  per- 
petual rotatory  and  orbitual  motion.  Did  not  these  motions, 
with  their  resultant  centrifugal  forces,  exist  to  countervail,  in 
some  degree,  the  force  of  internal  gravity,  those  firmamental 
clusters  would  doubtless  exist  in  much  more  dense  masses 
than  those  in  which  they  now  appear. 

But  if  this  conclusion  thus  approximates  to  a  certainty, 
there  are  facts  which  point  to  a  still  more  extended  appli- 
cation of  its  principles.  In  the  southern  heavens,  and  quite 

4 


- 


38          THE   SIDEEEAL  UNIVERSE. 

detached  from  the  Milky  Way,  are  two  bright  spots  which 
southern  navigators  have  designated  by  the  name  of  "  Magel- 
lan's Clouds"  During  his  astronomical  residence  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  some  years  ago,  Sir  John  Herschel,  by  the  aid 
of  his  twenty  feet  telescope,  succeeded  in  analyzing  these  ob- 
jects,  and  found  that  each  of  them,  and  especially  the  larger 
one,  was  a  system  of  firmaments,  combining  many  extensive 
clusters  into  one!  Of  these,  as  systems,  analogy  would 
authorize  us -to  predicate  internal  gravity  and  general  and  par- 
ticular rotatory  and  orbitual  motions.  But  the  magnitude  of 
this  complex  unity,  however  inconceivably  great,  may,  after 
all,  be  but  an  atom  in  the  immensity  of  ulterior  creations  to 
which  it  belongs ;  and,  on  the  bases  of  its  analogies,  we  may 
rise  to  the  ideal  of  a  still  higher  system — a  system  which  may 
be  supposed  to  embrace  in  its  structure  all  the  firmamental 
clusters,  nebulae,  and  systems  of  systems  heretofore  known  to 
telescopic  observers,  and  countless  more  besides. 

Nor  is  the  idea  of  such  an  all-comprehensive  system  of  sys- 
tems without  the  support  of  facts,  as  well  as  of  analogies.  It  is 
said  that  although  nebulae,  resolvable  and  irresolvable,  appear 
in  every  quarter  of  the  heavens,  they  appear  in  greatest 
abundance  in  a  comparatively  narrow  zone  which  encircles 
the  heavens,  cutting  the  plane  of  the  Milky  Way  at  right 
angles.  This  arrangement  goes  far  to  establish  the  idea  of  a 
Frimament  of  firmaments,  a  Galaxy  of  galaxies,  in  which  all 
sidereal  creations  which  have  come  within  the  reach  of  the 
most  powerful  telescopes,  are  bound  together  in  one  common 
structure,  brought  within  the  sphere  of  the  same  common  laws, 
and  made  to  observe  throughout,  similar  rotatory  and  orbitual 
motions  with  those  which  prevail  in  our  own  solar  sys- 
tem, which  latter  may  be  considered  as  an  epitome 
representative  of  the  whole ! 


THE     GEE  AT     CENTER.  39 

We  have  thus  seen  that  wherever  the  wonders  of  the 
celestial  spaces  have  been  distinctly  unfolded,  the  revolution 
of  satellites  around  planets,  of  planets  around  suns,  of  suns 
around  still  greater  suns,  of  systems  around  still  greater 
systems,  of  clusters  around  still  greater  clusters,  is  revealed 
as  an  omniprevalent  law.  And  seeing  the  complete  unity  of 
plan  and  harmony  of  operations  so  far  as  we  have  gone — see- 
ing the  affectionate  co-relations  which  are  exhibited  between 
molecules,  and  worlds,  and  systems,  and  all  stellar  congre- 
gations, with  all  their  included  parts — may  we  not  prolong 
the  chain  of  analogy  one  link  farther,  and  conclude  that  they 
all,  together  with  the  myriads  of  similar  creations  which  dwell 
in  depths  of  space  which  no  optical  power  can  ever  penetrate, 
owe  the  bond  of  unity  wrhich  connects  them,  and  the  har- 
monial  influence  which  wields  them  in  their  mighty  courses, 
to  one  grand  Source  of  central  power,  whose  attractions  they 
all  implicitly  obey,  and  from  whose  genial  radiations  all 
receive  their  life  1  If  the  links  of  the  analogical  chain  have 
been  found  to  closely  adhere  through  all  the  labyrinths  of 
every  realm  of  being  whose  existence  may  be  verified  by 
other  processes,  who  shall  begin  to  distrust  that  chain  for  the 
first  time,  after  it  has  conducted  us  safely  thus  far  1 

Though  the  hypothesis  of  a  common  Pivot  and  Center  of 
gravity  of  the  whole  universe  may  not,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  be  susceptible  of  an  ocular  or  complete  mathematical 
demonstration,  yet  there  is  interior  evidence — I  had  almost 
said  even  the  evidence  of  intuition — that  it  is  true  in  some 
form ;  and  I  believe  this  idea  is  now  extensively  received  as 
an  article  of  astronomical  faith. 

Let  no  one  suppose  that  amid  these  inconceivable  dis- 
tances and  magnitudes,  the  fixed  principles  of  reasoning  lose 
their  validity  and  become  untrustworthy.  It  is  true  that  in 


40  THE     SIDEREAL     UNIVERSE. 

these  giddy  flights,  the  imagination  and  conceptive  powers 
become  lost  and  bewildered ;  but  so  they  do,  in  a  great  de- 
gree, before  we  have  traveled  beyond  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  our  own  mundane  sphere.  The  distance  from  the 
earth  to  our  own  sun  is  measured  by  millions  of  miles ;  and 
even  this,  as  one  of  the  shortest  of  astronomical  distances,  the 
imagination  can  but  faintly  conceive.  The  distance  from  the 
sun  to  the  stars  is  measured  by  millions  of  diameters  of  the 
earth's  orbit ;  the  distance  from  firmament  to  firmament  is 
measured  by  millions  of  interstellar  spaces;  the  distance 
even  of  the  most  interior  firmament  from  the  great  Center  of 
all  centers,  may,  in  the  efforts  of  the  imagination,  be  measured 
by  millions,  or  even  billions  of  inter-firmamental  spaces ;  and 
the  circumference  of  the  whole  Grand  Structure,  may  even 
transcend  all  human  conceptions  of  infinitude;  yet  form, 
locality,  relative  position,  center,  circumference,  and  hence 
limits,  must  exist  as  absolutely  as  they  exist  in  the  smallest 
spherule  of  matter  visible  to  the  human  eye ;  and  to  the  view 
of  an  absolutely  infinite  Being,  the  whole  Universe  of  uni- 
verses may  be  of  comparative  dimensions  not  greater  than  a 
single  grain  of  sand !  And  if  Ehrenberg  could,  by  the  aid  of 
the  microscope,  descry  a  whole  animal  kingdom  in  a  single 
drop  of  water,  each  individual  of  the  myriads  of  whose  ani- 
mated forms  must  have  had  eyes,  teeth,  stomach,  intestines, 
and  all  the  appurtenances  of  a  complete  anatomical  structure, 
governed  by  unvarying  physiological  laws;  and  if  by  the 
same  means  he  could  demonstrate  that  a  particular  geological 
deposit,  fourteen  feet  thick  and  miles  in  extent,  was  made  up 
almost  exclusively  of  the  skeletons  of  animals,  forty-one  bil- 
lions of  which  could  exist  in  a  single  cubic  inch,  then  we  may 
rest  assured  that  the  principles  of  nature  exist  in  no  greater 
completeness,  and  in  no  higher  or  more  inconceivable  compli- 


A     GENERALIZATION.  4:1 

cations,  'm  infinites  than  they  do  in  infinitesimals.  We  may, 
then,  without  crowding  out  any  natural  principle,  or  doing 
violence  to  any  just  method  of  reasoning,  reduce  the  scale  of 
the  universe,  in  our  imagination,  to  dimensions  convenient  to 
be  contemplated  on  all  sides,  and  follow  out  our  reasonings 
with  ease  and  comparative  certainty  respecting  its  properties, 
forces,  laws,  internal  arrangements,  and  progressive  processes 
of  formation,  from  beginnings  to  ultimates. 

Considering,  then,  all  general  natural  principles  as  applying 
equally  to  greatest  and  to  smallest  analogous  cosmical  forms, 
and  to  the  whole  universal  structure  as  well  as  to  its  indi- 
vidual parts,  we  proceed  to  another  branch  of  the  chain  of 
analogical  reasoning,  which  will  speedily  conduct  us  to  the 
primal  condition  of  the  substance  from  which  the  material  uni- 
verse and  all  it  contains,  was  organized. 

The  nebular  theory  of  planetary  and  solar  formations,  as 
applying  to  our  solar  system,  has  been  shown  to  rest  on  so 
many  probabilities  as  seemingly  to  justify  the  undoubting 
conviction  of  its  truth.  But  if  this  theory  is  admitted  as  ap- 
plicable to  our  own  solar  system,  its  applicability  to  forma- 
tions in  the  sidereal  realms  will,  after  the  foregoing  system  of 
universal  analogies  has  been  traced  out,  scarcely  be  disputed, 
especially  as  it  was  in  the  sidereal  realms  that  the  first  facts 
were  observed  which  seemed  to  intimate  its  truth.  And  if  all 
planetary  and  solar  agglomerations  originated  from  previously 
diffused  nebulous  masses,  then,  in  view  of  the  unbroken  chain 
which,  we  have  seen,  binds  all  systems  together  as  one  system, 
the  following  statement  is  its  own  sufficient  proof: 

As  the  satellites  were  formed  from  the  same  original  nebu- 
lous mass  from  which  the  planets  originated,  so  a  prior  state 
of  that  mass  was  a  state  of  unity  and  interdiffusion  with  the 
mass  which  composed  the  sun.  The  materials  of  that  mass, 


42         THE  SIDEREAL  UNIVERSE. 

in  like  manner,  were  previously  connected  and  inte'rdiffused 
with  the  mass  which  formed  the  more  interior  sun  around 
which  it  revolves,  and  out  of  which  were  formed  all  such  other 
ultimate  suns  as,  in  common  with  our  own,  now  revolve  around 
the  same  center.  The  substance  of  all  suns  and  systems  com- 
posing our  firmament,  may  be  supposed  also  to  have  been 
previously  interdiffused  in  one  amorphous,  undistinguishable 
mass.  So  the  substance  of  the  suns  and  systems  of  all  other 
firmaments,  together  with  the  substance  of  the  great  central 
sphere  of  universal  attraction  which  binds  and  subordinates 
them  all,  was,  in  like  manner,  in  an  original  nebulous  and 
formless  state ;  and  the  whole  universal  substance  was  then 
but  one  substance,  so  highly  attenuated  and  expanded  as  to  be 
without  definite  forms,  divisions,  or  compartments — an  in- 
definable, universal  MONAD  !  In  short,  as  our  own  solar  sys- 
tem is  a  child  of  the  great  Universal  System,  and  is  formed  in 
the  image  of  its  parent,  the  primal  condition  of  the  materials 
of  one,  must  have  been  precisely  analogous  to  that  of  the 
other;  and  if  the  solar  system  germinated  from  an  original 
nebulae,  so  did  the  system  of  the  whole  universe. 

But  in  thus  unraveling  the  complexity  of  all  material  for- 
mations, and  tracing  them  all  to  an  original,  unitary,  and 
chaotic  state,  we  at  the  same  time  unravel  the  complexity  of 
motion,  and  not  only  arrive  at  its  original  and  simplest  form, 
but  at  a  state  in  which  it  must  necessarily  have  had  no  form-r- 
a  state  in  which  its  principles  were  as  chaotic  as  original  mat- 
ter itself,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  at  a  state  in  which  no 
established  motion  existed. 

We  have  thus  arrived  by  an  easy,  and,  admitting  our  pre- 
mises, an  apparently  certain,  process,  at  the  very  root  of  the 
Tree  of  universal  material  creations — at  the  great  unitary 
Germ  of  all  firmaments,  suns,  systems,  and  worlds,  with  the 


ANALYSIS     AND     SYNTHESIS.  43 

mineral,  Vegetable,  animal,  and  human  forms  which  dwell 
upon  their  surfaces.  If  there  has  been  any  error  in  the  fore- 
going reasonings,  it  has  probably  been  an  error  in.  the  form 
rather  than  in  the  principles  of  our  conclusions,  and  the  error 
therefore  does  not  essentially  effect  the  main  object  contem- 
plated in  this  disquisition.  But  of  the  truth  of  the  position  to 
which  we  have  arrived  by  this  analytical  process,  from  ulti- 
mates  to  origins,  or  from  effects  to  causes,  additional  evidences 
will  hereafter  incidentally  occur  as  we  proceed,  by  an  opposite 
and  synthetical  process,  from  causes  to  effects.  The  two  pro- 
cesses will  serve  as  mutual  correctives  of  each  other ;  and  by 
the  aid  of  both  united,  we  hope  to  somewhat  enlarge  our 
truthful  conceptions  in  relation  to  those  principles,  laws,  and 
operations  of  the  universe  without,  which  naturally  lie  beyond 
the  province  of  mathematics  and  ocular  demonstration,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  have  their  counterparts,  representatives, 
and  exponents  in  the  universe  within. 


CHAPTER   Y. 

MATEEIAL    BEGINNINGS    AS    POINTING    TO    A 
SUPEK-MATEEIAL    CAUSE. 

HAVING  thus  traced  the  system  of  material  creation  through 
a  series  of  anterior  conditions,  comprehending  periods  which, 
perhaps,  no  assemblage  of  arithmetical  figures  could  express, 
to  a  state  in  which  the  materials  of  all  worlds,  systems,  and 
firmaments,  were  in  a  condition  of  diffused  attenuated  vapor, 
with  no  definite  or  established  motions,  the  inquiry  next 
arises,  Was  even  this  the  absolutely  primitive  state  of  material 
things?  Did  matter  ever  exist  in  any  form  or  forms  previous 
to  this  state  of  chaos  1  or,  if  not,  was  it,  in  this  state,  eternal  1 
or,  if  not  absolutely  eternal  either  in  the  state  of  forms  or  of 
chaos,  whence  and  how  did  it  originate  1 

The  idea  that  matter  ever  existed  in  any  mundane  forms 
previous  to  this,  and  became  subsequently  dissolved,  not  only 
has  no  analogy  to  support  it,  but  seems  to  be  contradicted  by 
an  established  law  of  nature.  I  refer  to  that  law  by  which 
amorphous  or  chaotic  matter  in  motion  has  the  general  and 
predominant  tendency  to  assume  and  multiply  forms.  It  is 
not  denied  that  motion  of  particles  tends  also  to  the  dissolu- 
tion of  material  forms,  but  that  dissolution  is  always  subser- 
vient to  immediate  and  higher  recombinations.  The  kingdom 
of  motion  and  forms,  therefore,  have  ever  been,  and  still  are 
(and  we  may  confidently  believe  ever  will  be),  making  farther 
and  farther  encroachments  upon  the  realms  of  chaos  and 


SUPEK-MATERIAL     CAUSE.  45 

inertia ;  and  whatever  is  conquered  by  the  former  can  never 
be  fully  reconquered  by  the  latter.  And  this  is  because  the 
former  power  is  positive,  and  the  latter  is  negative. 

If  matter,  therefore,  was  ever  in  a  state  of  mundane  or  or- 
ganized forms  previous  to  the  chaotic  state  now  under  contem- 
plation, it  must  have  for  ever  continued  in  that  same  general 
state,  and  even  to  progressively  unfold  the  tendencies  by  which 
its  forms  were  assumed;  and  no  natural  power  could  have 
brought  it  back  again  to  the  formless  state.  The  chaotic  or 
nebulous  state  in  which  we  have  seen  it  must  necessarily  have 
existed  at  the  beginning  of  the  cosmical  creation,  may,  there- 
fore, be  inferred  to  be  its  primitive  state. 

But  that  matter,  even  in  this  indefinite  state,  was  absolutely 
eternal,  is  an  idea  which  analogy,  so  far  as  it  speaks  upon  the 
subject,  distinctly  contradicts.*  The  material  of  each  form 
and  kingdom  in  nature  may  be  traced  backward  from  highest 
to  lowest  developments,  immediately  beyond  which  latter  it 
loses  itself  in  a  more  rudimental  creation,  which  serves  as  its 
groundwork.  Thus  the  animal  kingdom,  traced  downward  to 
its  lowest  and  simplest  forms,  finally  loses  its  character  as 
animal,  and  merges  into  the  vegetable ;  the  vegetable,  in  like 
manner,  finally  loses  itself  in  the  mineral ;  the  mineral  or 
crystalline  forms  pass  downward  into  the  general  amorphous 
mass  of  planetary  matter ;  planetary  matter  may  be  traced 
downward  through  more  rudimental  geological  conditions,  and 
through  igneous  liquid,  and  aeriform  fluid,  until  its  distinction 
is  lost  in  planetary  nebula;  this,  in  imagination,  may  be 
traced,  in  like  manner,  until  it  is  lost  in  the  general  gaseous 
mass  of  the  uncondensed  sun  ;  and  so  we  may  proceed,  in  re- 
trograde steps,  until  we  find  the  materials  of  all  forms  and 

*  Let  it  be  remarked,  once  for  all,  that  by  "  matter,"  I  mean  physical  substance  in 
contradistinction  to  spiritual  substance. 


46  MATERIAL     BEGINNINGS     AND 

kingdoms  are  lost  in  the  great  common  mass  of  original  cha- 
otic matter. 

But  in  thus  tracing  back  all  forms  and  kingdoms  to  their 
respective  and  immediate  predecessors,  we  at  the  same  time 
trace  backward  the  one  and  analogous  kingdom  of  Universal 
Matter  as  such  (which  includes  all  the  other  kingdoms),  from 
its  highest  to  its  lowest  forms ;  and  as  there  is  a  point  beneath 
which  all  kingdoms  lose  their  identity,  and  their  essences  are 
merged  in  an  anterior  kingdom,  so  analogy  would  seem  to  in- 
dicate that  there  is  a  prior  point  of  attenuation  and  refinement 
at  which  the  great  kingdom  of  Matter  also  loses  its  character 
as  matter  or  physical  substance,  and  thus  that  it  originated  as 
matter,  from  a  prior  source,  as  did  all  its  included  sub-king- 
doms. This  idea  would  appear  in  greater  clearness  and  force 
of  probability,  if  contemplated  in  the  light  of  the  doctrine  of 
Series,  Degrees,  and  Correspondences,  hereafter  to  be  brought 
into  view ;  and  it  will  receive  incidental  confirmation  as  we 
proceed  to  consider  the  origin  of  Motion. 

If  (contrary  to  an  extreme  probability,  not  to  say  absolute 
certainty,  established  in  previous  remarks)  the  hypothesis  is 
still  insisted  upon,  that  the  chaotic  matter  of  which  this  uni- 
verse is  composed,  consists  of  the  dissolved  elements  of  a  pre- 
vious material  universe,  the  question  will  still  arise,  Whence 
originated  the  matter  composing  that  universe  1  And  so  we 
may  extend  our  inquiries  back  through  a  thousand  imagined 
pre-existent  universes  ;  but  the  mind  must  come  to  a  resting- 
place  somewhere.  It  is  logically  just  as  certain  that  there  was 
a  first  universe  (if  we  are  mistaken  in  supposing  that  this  is 
the  first),  as  it  is  that  there  was  a  first  vegetable  form  or  class 
of  forms,  which  latter  proposition  is  positively  demonstrated 
by  facts  in  geology.  And  after  we  have  gone  back  in  imagi- 
nation, to  an  absolutely  first  universe,  the  question  will  still 


SUPEB-MATEEIAL     CAUSE.  47 

return  unanswered,  Whence  originated  the  physical  substance 
composing  that  universe  1 

As  the  line  of  progression  traced  backward  necessarily  leads 
to  a  beginning  of  the  system  of  developments  to  which  it 
applies,  so  the  line  of  causation,  inversely  traced,  necessarily 
leads  to  a  .Mr^  Cause,  which  is  itself  uncaused,  though  contain- 
ing in  itself  the  elements  of  all  causes,  and  hence  all  exist- 
ences. And  as  the  whole  Animal  Kingdom,  for  example, 
necessarily  rests  upon  the  basis  of  a  prior  and  immediately 
corelated  and  correspondent  Kingdom — the  Kingdom  of  Veg- 
etation— so  the  whole  Kingdom  of  universal  materiality,  so  to 
speak,  as  necessarily  rests  upon  the  basis  of  a  prior  and  imme- 
diately corelated  and  correspondent  Kingdom.  This  King- 
dom, then,  must  be  ^ra-physical,  in  the  same  way  as  the 
Vegetable  Kingdom  is  ultra-animal ;  and  it  must  differ  in  na- 
ture and  constitution  from  the  whole  Kingdom  of  physical 
substance,  at  least  as  much  as  the  Vegetable  Kingdom  differs 
from  the  Animal,  or  as  the  impelling  and  moving  essence  of 
the  human  mind  differs  from  the  impelled  and  moved  essence 
of  the  human  body. 

Now,  unless  we  suppose  this  ultra-physical  (and  hence  un- 
physical)  Kingdom  to  be  a  Kingdom  of  Spirituality,  there  is 
no  conceptive  power  corresponding  to  it  in  the  human  mind, 
and  hence  it  is  to  the  human  mind  a  nothing,  and  can  not  even 
be  an  object  of  thought,  much  less  of  faith. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  "  Whence  originated  this  Kingdom  of 
Spirituality,  which  it  is  here  alleged  must  have  served  as  the 
basis  of  physical  creation  1"  If  we  should  answer  that  it 
originated  in  a  higher  and  ulterior  spirituality,  and  that  that 
originated  in  a  still  higher,  and  that  in  a  still  higher ;  and  if 
we  could  thus  prolong  our  thoughts  to  an  absolute  eternity 
and  in  search  of  the  Origin  of  origins,  we  would  still  have  only 


48  MATERIAL     BEGINNINGS     AND 

spirituality — an  INFINITE  REALM  of  Spirituality,  beyond  the 
idea  of  which  our  thoughts  could  not  possibly  go.  We  may 
set  it  down,  then,  as  a  conclusion  which  all  analogy  affirms, 
and  which  there  is  no  conceivable  reason  to  doubt,  that  this 
whole  realm  of  Materiality,  originated  in  this  prior  and  cor- 
respondent Realm  of  SPIRITUALITY. 

Now,  spirituality,  in  its  interior  nature,  possesses  the  prop- 
erties of  affection,  thought,  and  volition,  and  these,  again,  are 
the  attributes  of  personality.  This  ultimate,  and  hence  infinite, 
Realm  of  Spirituality,  therefore,  involves  the  idea  which  we 
mean  to  convey  by  the  term  GOD  :  and  the  infinite  series  of 
degrees  of  spirituality  of  which  the  mind  has  just  conceived  in 
its  search  after  the  Origin  of  origins,  may  be  supposed  to  cor- 
respond to  the  infinite  series  of  degrees  of  the  harmonious 
faculties  of  the  one  Infinite  God,  as  these  may  be  supposed  to 
be  represented  in  their  ascending  scale,  from  the  most  exterior 
portion  of  the  Divine  nature  which  connects  with  Materiality, 
to  the  most  interior  portions  of  the  Divine  Soul,  which  pro- 
jects, generates,  and  vitalizes  all  things. 

In  saying,  therefore,  that  the  whole  Kingdom  of  Physical 
Substance  as  such,  originated  in  a  prior  and  corresponding 
Kingdom  of  Spirituality,  we,  in  effect,  say  that  it  originated 
In  a  Source  possessing  affection,  intelligence,  volition,  and  hence 
personality — in  a  Being,  who,  without  any  restraint  or  constraint 
from  outer  and  physical  influences  (which  did  not  then  exist), 
could  freely  create,  or  abstain  from  creating,  according  to  the 
internal  promptings  of  his  own  Infinite  Mind. 

But  let  me  not  be  understood  as  arguing  that  the  matter  of 
this  universe  was  created  by  God  out  of  nothing.  The  mind 
can  not  conceive  of  any  such  thing  as  nothing,  or  of  something 
coming  out  of  nothing ;  and  therefore  the  idea  may  be  at  once 
dismissed  from  the  mind  as  being  itself  a  mental  nothing.  But 


SUPER- MATERIAL  CAUSE.          49 

if  we  suppose  that  spirit  is  an  essence,  and  that  matter,  as  such, 
was  created  out  of  this  essence,  there  will  at  least  in  this 
be  no  violation  of  the  laws  of  thought;  and  the  reasons  on 
which  such  suppositions  may  be  grounded  will  incidentally  and 
more  distinctly  appear  as  we  proceed. 

There  is  a  philosophy  extant  which  insists  that  matter  has 
of  itself  an  inherent 'power  of  motion,  and  that  matter  (or  phys- 
ical substance)  is  eternal.  But  that  this  assumption  is  unten- 
able, is  obvious  from  the  following  considerations :  Motion  in 
matter,  as  shown  before,  necessarily  tends  to  bring  matter 
into  forms  ;  and  if  motion  was  from  eternity  in  eternal  matter, 
then  matter  must  from  eternity  have  been  brought  into  forms 
— nay,  into  the  ultimate  and  highest  forms  which  that  motion 
is  qualified  to  engender.  But  as  it  is  sensibly  certain  that 
these  highest  forms  did  not  exist  for.ever,  and  rationally  cer- 
tain that  they  must  have  ultimately  sprung  from  a  state  of 
primeval  chaos,  it  follows,  of  necessity,  that  motion  in  matter 
could  not  have  been  from  eternity. 

Moreover,  if  motion  is  an  inherent  property  of  matter,  that 
motion  must  be  the  result  of  a  force  adequate  to  produce  it ; 
and  that  force  must  be  either  mechanical  or  chemical.  But 
that  matter  contains  of  itself,  and  in  itself,  no  mechanical  force, 
is  self-evident.  Conceive  of  any  body  of  matter,  whether  an 
atom  or  a  world,  being  in  a  state  of  perfect  rest :  it  is  evident 
that  that  body  has  within  itself  no  mechanical  force  adequate 
to  move  itself,  much  less  to  act  upon  kindred  bodies.  It  is 
clear,  therefore,  that  matter  has  within  itself,  and  originally  of 
itself,  no  mechanical  force  adequate  to  produce  motion  in 
any  case  ;  and,  therefore,  if  a  body  at  rest  is  not  acted  upon 
by  an  extraneous  moving  force,  it  will  necessarily  remain,  for 
aught  mechanical  forces  can  do,  in  precisely  the  same  place, 
and  will  possess  precisely  the  same  bulk  and  constituents,  to 

5 


50  MATERIAL     BEGINNINGS. 

all  eternity.  This  self-evident  and  generally  recognized  prop- 
erty of  matter  is  called  its  inertia. 

It  is  not  denied  that  a  chemical  power — a  power  of  expan- 
sion and  condensation,  or  of  altering  the  internal  arrangements 
of  particles — may  be  lodged  in  bodies  of  matter;  but  this 
power  is  only  the  striving  of  particles  for  an  equilibrium.  But 
unless  there  is  a  constantly  active  influence  received  from  a 
foreign  source,  the  equilibrium  must  necessarily  be  finally  at- 
tained, and  all  action  would  then  cease,  never  to  be  renewed 
by  any  inherent  force,  simply  because  such  force  is  exhausted. 

If  we  then  consider  the  whole  universal  mass  of  physical 
substance,  as  the  mass  of  particles  supposed  to  be  subject  to 
this  internal  chemical  action,  that  action,  and  its  producing 
force,  could  not  be  eternal  and  unoriginated,  because  in  that 
case  it  would  manifestly,  from  eternity,  have  attained  to  an 
internal  equilibrium,  and  all  action  would  have  ceased.  These 
considerations  show  that  even  chemical  action,  and  therefore 
chemical  force,  must  have  had  a  beginning,  and  therefore  a 
cause,  in  some  power  or  contriving  agent  beyond  themselves, 
and  outside  of  the  matter  in  which  they  inhere.*  But  as  there 
was  no  other  realm  of  physical  matter  from  which  they  could 
be  supplied,  we  are  driven  to  the  only  other  alternative  of  sup- 
posing that  they  were  supplied  from  a  Spiritual  Source — from 
the  personal  Realm  of  affection,  intelligence,  and  volition,  which 
we  have  before  proved  to  be  unoriginated,  and  hence  infinite. 

If  this  reasoning  is  correct,  then  the  conclusion  is  obvious, 
that  all  motion  of  whatever  kind,  as  well  as  the  physical  sub- 
stance acted  upon  by  it,  must  have  had  «in  ultimate  origin  in 
Spirit — IN  GOD  ! 

*  It  may  be  added,  that  chemical  forces,  as  inherent  properties  of  original,  amor- 
phous, nebulous  matter,  must  have  been  exceedingly  weak,  if  in  such  matter  such  in- 
herent forces  could  have  existed  at  all,  which  is  extremely  doubtful. 


CHAPTEE   VI. 

PEINCIPLES   OF   UNIVEESAL   SYNTHESIS. 

WE  have  now  completed  our  descending  view  of  the  realm 
of  Being  without  us,  and  traced  the  material  creation  to  its 
super-material — hence  spiritual — hence  Divine,  Cause.  The 
completion  of  this  general  analysis  unfolds  to  us  the  true  basis 
of  all  synthesis ;  and,  keeping  in  view  the  Spirituality,  Self- 
existence,  and  Divinity  of  the  Original  Cause,  we  may  now 
proceed  to  inquire,  what  may  be  known,  or  legitimately 
believed,  in  relation  to  the  origin,  modus  operandi,  and  govern- 
ment of  Matter  and  Motion,  and  of  all  the  subsequently 
established  creations,  systems,  and  kingdoms  now  comprised 
in  the  general  fabric  of  outer  Being? 

I  am  aware,  however,  that  many  will  be  likely  to  consider 
questions  of  this  nature  as  too  far  above  the  sphere  of  the  hu- 
man intellect,  to  justify  an  attempt  even  at  the  most  general 
solution.  But  let  us  not  be  discouraged.  It  was  intimated  in 
the  outset  of  the  present  treatise,  that  nothing  exists  in  the 
realm  of  being  WITHOUT  man,  which  has  not  an  antitype  and 
correspondent  in  the  realm  of  being  WITHIN  him,  and  that  all 
which  exists  without,  and  all  which  exists  within,  possess 
toward  each  other  the  relations  of  cognizable  objects  and 
principles,  and  cognizing  faculties.  Besides,  we  have  already 
found  reason  to  believe  that  Law  is  unvarying;  and  if  so,  it 
may  be  traced  in  its  operations,  not  only  inversely  from  ulti- 
mates  to  origins  of  creation's  unfoldings,  but  also  directly 


52  PRINCIPLES     OF     SYNTHESIS. 

from  origins  to  ultimates.  And  as  the  wonderful  powers 
of  analogy  have  conducted  us  with  apparent  safety  through 
the  immense  labyrinths  of  the  stellar  creations,  in  our  efforts 
to  trace  them  downward  to  their  common  source,  we  should 
not  despair  of  deriving  some  substantial  aid  from  the  same 
mode  of  reasoning,  when  applied  to  the  solution  of  those  more 
profound  and  important  questions  which  are  embraced  in  a 
synthetical  investigation  of  the  system  of  Being. 

As  forming  the  basis  of  the  process  of  investigation  now  to 
be  pursued,  we  here  lay  it  down,  as  a  self-evident  proposition, 
that  each  and  every  effect  is  germinally  contained  in  its  cause, 
and  hence,  when  developed,  necessarily  corresponds  to  its  cause. 
Were  this  not  the  case,  neither  cause  nor  effect  could  properly 
be  called  such,  and  there  could  be  no  conceivable  sequential 
relation  between  the  two. 

For  example,  in  the  order  of  tangible  developments  by 
which  man  is  surrounded,  the  Vegetable  Kingdom  precedes, 
and  serves  as  the  material  so.urce,  of  the  Animal  Kingdom.  It 
therefore  forms  the  material  element  of  the  cause  of  the 
Animal  Kingdom,  though  a  more  essential  element  of  the 
cause  of  this  and  all  other  creations,  is  of  a  spiritual  character, 
supplied  from  a  source  that  is  above  the  particular  creation  to 
which  it  applies,  as  will  be  further  illustrated  hereafter.  But 
the  two  kingdoms,  sustaining  toward  each  other,  as  they  do, 
the  relations  of  the  material  element  of  a  cause,  and  the 
material  element  of  an  effect,  stand,  thus  far,  as  mutual  cor- 
respondents and  exponents  of  each  other.  In  like  manner,  the 
Vegetable  Kingdom  stands  as  a  material  correspondent  and 
exponent  of  the  Mineral  Kingdom,  which  is  its  material  source 
and  cause,  and  contains  the  fundamental  principles  of  its  com- 
position and  physical  properties,  though  in  a  lower  degree.  So 
the  Mineral  Kingdom,  in  like  manner,  has  its  physical  corre- 


PRINCIPLES     OF     SYNTHESIS.  53 

spondent  in  the  mass  of  amorphous  planetary  matter  which 
served  as  its  source ;  and  so,  by  like  gradations,  the  chain  of 
analogy  carries  our  minds  backward  through  planetary  nebulas, 
solar  nebulae,  etc.,  until  we  come  to  the  one  great,  universal, 
undivided  mass  of  chaotic  matter,  which  must  necessarily 
have  contained  within  itself,  undeveloped,  the  material  ele- 
ments of  stellar  systems,  solar  systems,  planets,  minerals, 
vegetables,  animals,  and  even  the  physical  elements  of  the 
human  constitution.  Though  indefinite  in  the  extreme,  this, 
in  its  occult  properties  and  adaptations,  .must,  as  a  universal 
material  Germ,  have  involved  the  physical  correspondences  of 
all  the  creations  which  subsequently  sprang  from  it,  in  the 
same  way  as  the  acorn  involves  the  physical  correspondences 
of  the  future  oak ;  and  by  an  intelligence  capable  of  perceiv- 
ing its  interior  properties  and  adaptations,  it  might  have  been 
predicted,  in  a  general  way,  what  kind  of  creations  were  des- 
tined to  spring  from  it. 

But  as  the  Animal  Kingdom,  physically  speaking,  was 
previously  contained  in  the  Vegetable,  and  the  Vegetable 
Kingdom  was  contained  in  the  Mineral,  and  so  on  throughout 
the  descending  scale,  so  the  great  original,  universal  Kingdom 
of  unformed  matter,  and  whose  undeveloped  properties  and 
principles  were  typical  of  all  subsequent  and  subordinate 
Kingdoms,  was  itself  as  one  Kingdom,  previously  involved 
in  the  infinite,  eternal,  and  unoriginated  Kingdom  of  Spirit- 
uality, which,  as  before  shown,  constitutes  the  DIVINE  PER- 
SONALITY. This  Kingdom  of  Spirituality — in  other  words, 
the  Divine  Personal  Being — comprises,  therefore,  not  only  the 
material  (or  substantial),  but  the  spiritual  and  volitional,  and 
hence  the  entire  elements  of  the  Cause  of  all  things  in  universal 
creation ;  and  hence  the  Creator  and  the  created  must  stand  as 
mutual  exponents  of  each  other. 


54:  PRINCIPLES     OF     SYNTHESIS. 

That  the  great  Kingdom  of  universal  matter,  and  what,  for 
the  sake  of  perspicuity,  we  have  called  the  great  Kingdom  of 
universal  Spirit,  stand  in  relations  to  each  other  similar  to 
(though  more  comprehensive  and  perfect  than)  the  relations 
subsisting  between  any  two  conjoined  subordinate  kingdoms 
in  nature,  is  an  idea  which  it  is  desired  the  reader  should  dis- 
tinctly comprehend,  as  it  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  true, 
material,  and  spiritual  philosophy,  and  will,  as  it  is  believed, 
tend  to  entirely  reclaim  science  from  the  general  ten- 
dency which  it  has  long  apparently  had,  to  Pantheism  and 
Atheism. 

Considering  that  matter,  as  such,  originated  in  the  creative 
efforts  of  Spirit,  and  hence  Mind,  there  is  another  point  of 
view,  from  which  it  will  appear  that  matter,  both  in  its 
primeval  state,  and  in  all  its  subsequent  states  of  mundane 
forms,  must  necessarily  have  been  in  exact  correspondence 
with  its  Source  and  producing  Cause.  We  know  something 
of  the  nature  and  operations  of  Mind,  by  experience  and  con- 
sciousness. We  know  that  the  mind  of  the  architect,  for 
instance,  constructs  an  edifice  within  itself,  or  within  its  own 
conceptions  and  thoughts — constructs  it  as  an  invisible  and 
spiritual  edifice — before  proceeding  to  give  it  a  physical 
form  in  the  outer  world.  After  the  building  is  physically 
erected,  therefore,  it  stands  as  a  precise  image  and  corre- 
spondent of  its  archetype  or  conception  which  first  existed  in 
the  mind. 

Applying  these  principles  to  the  subject  under  present  in- 
vestigation, we  may  consider  the  Divine  Thought  as  the  Archi- 
tect, and  the  universe,  or  any  of  its  systematically  organized 
stages  of  development,  as  the  Edifice.  Not  only,  then,  must 
the  archetype  of  the  universe  in  its  maturity,  with  all  its  har- 
monious worlds  and  systems,  but  even  the  archetypes  of 


PRINCIPLES     OF     SYNTHESIS.  OO 

those  atomic  and  infinitesimal  forms  constituting  original 
chaotic  matter,  have  distinctly  pre-existed  in  the  Divine, 
spiritual,  and  mental  constitution.* 

The  Deity  and  the  universe — the  realm  of  Spirit  and  the 
realm  of  Matter — therefore,  stand  to  each  other  in  the  relation 
of  Archetype  and  Antitype — of  Cause  and  Effect — and  there- 
fore the  two,  as  before  remarked,  stand  as  mutual  exponents 
of  each  other.  In  order,  therefore,  to  arrive  at  some  general 
conclusions  in  reference  to  the  constitution  and  principles  of 
creation  as  a  whole,  and  also  in  respect  to  the  constitution  and 
principles  of  its  included  and  correspondent  sub-systems,  let 
us  first  briefly  interrogate  Reason  and  Intuition  in  reference  to 
some  such  general  facts  as  we  can  comprehend,  respecting  the 
constitution  of  the  Divine  Being. 

The  only  way  in  which  we  can  obtain  any  definite  and  pro- 
per conception  of  the  Divine  Being,  is  by  first  conceiving  of 
a  true  and  undegenerated  human  being — such  being  the  culmi- 
nating point  of  all  Divine  creations,  and  hence  the  embodied 
representative  of  all  the  Divine  affections.  Although  it  is  not 
the  intention  to  base  the  propositions  of  this  work  on  the  au- 
thority of  inspired  writings  (whatever  confirmations  of  such 
writings  may  be  incidentally  developed  in  the  course  of  our 
philosophical  investigations),  we  can  not,  in  this  place,  avoid 
noticing  the  biblical  declaration  that  "  God  created  man  in  his 
own  image,"  as  impliedly  sanctioning  an  endeavor  on  our  part 
to  understand  all  that  we  may  comprehend  of  God,  by  a  com- 
parison of  the  knowledge  we  have  of  man.  Spirit,  indeed,  is 
essentially  of  the  same  nature  wherever  found,  whether  exist- 
ing in  a  finite  or  an  infinite  degree,  though  it  is  acknowledged 

*  The  idea  of  Archetypes,  as  here  presented,  was  originally  conceived  by  Plato, 
and  formed  a  prominent  feature  of  .his  philosophy;  though  the  author  here  derives  it 
from  sources  independent  of  Plato's  teachings. 


56  PRINCIPLES     OF     SYNTHESIS. 

that  it  may  exist  in  different  shades  of  moral  character  as 
resulting  from  different  combinations,  developments,  and  direc- 
tions of  the  faculties.  Conceive,  then,  of  a  perfectly  consti- 
tuted man — a  man  whose  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral 
natures  are  in  harmonious  development,  and  then  conceive 
this  man  to  be  expanded  to  infinitude,  and  you  have  the  truest 
and  highest  conception  of  God  of  which  the  human  mind  is 
capable. 

But  it  would  be  diverting  the  reader  too  far  from  the  object 
of  this  portion  of  our  treatise,  to  enter  at  present  into  an 
elaborate  discussion  of  the  question,  What  is  man?  This 
question  shall  be  discussed  at  length  in  the  second  part  of  this 
work.  But  for  the  present  we  must  confine  ourselves  to  a  few 
propositions  which,  to  intelligent  minds,  will  appear  more  or 
less  self-evident,  and  of  the  truth  of  which,  as  well  as  of  the 
ulterior  positions  which  they  will  serve  to  illustrate,  confirma- 
tion will  accumulate  as  we  proceed,  until  any  reasonable 
doubts  with  which  some  minds  may  at  first  regard  them,  will, 
it  is  believed,  be  either  greatly  diminished  or  entirely  dissi- 
pated. 

Let  it  be  apprehended,  then,  that  the  most  general  constitu- 
ents of  human  personality,  are  three;  viz.,  1.  Soul,  or  interior 
vitality,  which  is  the  seat  of  the  affections ;  2.  Spirit,  or  the 
organized,  pervading  nerve-element,  which,  in  its  lower  de- 
grees, is  the  vehicle  of  sensation,  and  in  its  higher  degrees,  is 
the  seat  of  the  understanding ;  and  3.  Body,  or  vehicle  of 
outer  manifestation  and  action. 

Precisely  corresponding  to  these  are  the  three  most  compre- 
hensive constituents  of  the  Divine  Being ;  viz.,  1.  Interior 
Soul,  Life,  or  Love ;  2.  Spirit  or  Wisdom ;  3.  Outer  sphere 
or  vehicle  of  operative  Energy,  the  latter  corresponding  to  the 
body  in  man. 


THE     SEVEN-FOLD     SERIES.  57 

But  the  constituents,  both  of  the  human  and  Divine  person- 
ality, considered  in  more  detailed  reference  to  elements,  forms, 
and  outer  objectivities,  are  also,  in  each  case,  susceptible  of  a 
seven-fold  division,  which  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows:  1. 
Subjective  Love,  or  Love  as  an  abstract  quality  of  the  personal 
essence ;  2.  Subjective  Wisdom,  or  Wisdom  as  an  abstract 
quality  of  the  personal  essence ;  3.  Subjective  volition,  or 
volition  as  an  abstract  power  of  the  two  previous  elements  com- 
bined, and  a  procedure  from  them  both;  4.  The  essences 
having  the  properties  of  Love,  Wisdom,  and  Volition,  em- 
bodied in  personal  organism  ;  5.  Objective  Love,  or  Love  as 
related  to  outer  forms  ;  6.  Objective  Wisdom,  or  Wisdom  as 
related  to  outer  forms ;  7.  Habitation,  or  a  complete  system 
of  outer  objects  and  conditions  related  to  the  whole  personal 
nature  and  desires,  and  in  which  such  nature  and  desires  be- 
come embodied  and  represented. 

In  man  the  elements  of  this  seven-fold  classification  con- 
tain within  themselves  many  corresponding  sub-divisions, 
some  of  which  are  much  more  obvious  than  the  foregoing 
general  divisions,  as  will  be  seen  when,  in  the  course  of  our 
inquiries  respecting  the  MICROCOSM  or  the  universe  within,  it 
comes  in  order  to  discuss  them.  In  God  the  elements  of  this 
seven-fold  division  may  be  presumed  to  contain  an  infinite 
number  of  sub-divisions,  all  of  which  are,  in  like  manner,  sus- 
ceptible of  corresponding  seven-fold  classifications  ;  and  their 
co-relations  and  inter-communications  may  be  supposed  to 
constitute  the  infinite  harmonies  and  beatitudes  of  the  Divine 
soul !  Our  object  at  this  stage  of  our  treatise,  however,  is 
little  more  than  to  unfold  the  idea  of  these  classifications  as  a 
basis  on  which  the  great  plan-work  of  creation  may  be  con- 
ceived, leaving  such  evidences  of  their  truthfulness  as  exist  in 
the  nature  of  things  to  be  incidentally  developed  as  we  proceed. 


58  PRINCIPLES     OF     SYN-THESIS. 

I 

This  seven-fold  classification  of  the  principles  of  the  Divine 
constitution,  is  probably  what  the  inspired  seer  St.  John  had 
reference  to  when  he  spoke  of  the  "  seven  Spirits  of  God  which 
go  out  into  all  the  earth."  And  it  was  undoubtedly  the  out- 
goings and  efficient  operations  of  these  which  produced  the 
various  seven-fold  Divine  antitypes  which  were  shown  to  the 
same  inspired  seer  under  the  forms  of  the  seven  churches  of 
Asia  Minor ;  the  Lamb  with  seven  horns  and  seven  eyes ;  the 
book  with  seven  seals,  and  their  successive  openings  at  seven 
different  epochs ;  the  seven  angels  with  seven  trumpets ;  the 
seven  thunders ;  the  seven  last  plagues,  etc.* 

If  it  be  true,  then,  that  there  are  these  seven  natural 
divisions  in  the  constituents  of  the  one  Divine  Being,  it  is 
obvious  that  any  system  of  creation  or  operation  which 
presents  a  complete  reflex  of  what  is  contained  in  the 
Divine  Source  from  which  it  sprang,  must  contain  a  re- 
presentation and  outer  expression  of  each  one  of  these  Di- 
vine constituents,  and  must  therefore,  as  a  whole,  be  also 
seven-fold. 

But  we  have  seen  that  Nature,  as  a  Whole,  is  divided  into 
many  Systems,  Kingdoms,  or  more  properly  speaking,  Dis- 
creet Degrees,  rising  one  above  another.  Each  one  of  these 
Kingdoms  or  Degrees  (as  will  gradually  be  illustrated  in  what 
follows)  contains  within  itself  the  seven-fold  series  of  parts, 
as  the  natural  evolution,  and  reproduction,  on  a  higher  scale, 

*  The  number  seven  appears  to  have  been  anciently  recognized  as  a  general  number 
of  completeness,  and  as  such  it  appears  to  have  been  habitually  employed  by  the 
sacred  writers.  Thus,  in  their  classifications,  there  were  seven  days  (or  periods)  of 
creation ;  seven  days  of  the  week ;  seven  years  from  one  sabbatic  year  to  another ;  seven 
tunes  seven  years  from  one  jubilee  to  another,  etc.,  (see  by  the  aid  of  the  concordance, 
the  numerous  instances  in  which  the  number  seven  occurs  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments). Some  of  the  ancient  heathen  nations,  also,  adopted  the  seven-fold  classifica- 
tion as  of  extensive  application,  especially-  to  spiritual  and  Divine  things ;  and  it  waa 
introduced  by  Pythagoras  from  India  into  Greece. 


HARMONIAL     SCALE     OF     CREATION.          59 

of  the  seven-fold  series  of  the  Degree  or  Kingdom  im- 
mediately below  it  in  the  order  of  development ;  and  all  of 
these,  separately  and  collectively,  are  evolutions  from,  and 
correspondents  of,  the  Divine  seven-fold  Constitution,  which 
is  the  Originator  and  Cause  of  all.  Each  one  of  these  seven- 
fold series,  moreover,  corresponds  to  the  diatonic  scale  in 
music,  and  which,  with  its  seven  constituent  notes,  is  therefore 
its  natural  oral  interpreter  and  exponent,  Thus  the  various 
Degrees  or  Kingdoms  of  natural  developments,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  octaves,  rising  one  above  another,  the  same  as  the 
octaves  in  music.  Each  octave  exactly  corresponds  to,  and 
harmonizes,  note  by  note,  with  all  other  octaves,  whether  they 
be  on  a  higher  or  lower  scale ;  so  that  if  we  fully  understand 
any  octave,  Degree,  or  Kingdom  of  natural  development,  we 
have  in  it  a  measure  and  exponent  of  all  others.  Thus  the 
system  of  nature,  as  a  Whole,  may  be  considered  as  one 
grand  Musical  Organ,  compassing  all  these  octaves,  and  which, 
in  the  hands  of  the  Great  Organist,  the  Divine  Being,  in 
whose  infinite  series  of  octaves  of  Love  and  Wisdom,  exists 
the  very  soul  and  origin  of  all  harmony,  is  capable  of 
sending  forth  every  where  those  silent  notes  of  harmony 
and  music  which  have  been  perceived  and  deeply  felt, 
by  every  truly  elevated  and  interiorly  developed  human 
soul ! 

The  idea  of  the  "  music  of  the  spheres,"  therefore,  is  not 
merely  a  poetic  fancy,  but  a  sublime  reality,  whose  basis  and 
origin  are  exhibited  in  the  foregoing  simple  principles. 

That  this  harmonial  scale  of  creation,  as  corresponding  to 
the  harmonial  scale  of  degrees  of  Love  and  Wisdom  of  the 
Divine  Mind,  is  not  a  mere  fanciful  conception,  will  become 
more  and  more  obvious  as  we  proceed,  It  will  be  shown, 
that  not  only  does  each  one  of  these  degrees  or  octaves  of 


60  PRINCIPLES     OF   SYNTHESIS. 

creation,  by  its  correspondence  with  all  others,  serve  as  their 
natural  exponent,  but  that  each  octave,  if  its  constituents 
are  correctly  classified,  rests  upon  internal  evidence  of  its 
own.  And  if  this  serial  order  of  graduated  progression  is 
duly  recognized,  and  its  laws  are  properly  understood,  we 
may  use  any  seven-fold  classification,  known  to  be  correct,  in 
correcting  the  errors  of  others,  just  as  the  musician  would 
correct  the  discords  of  one  octave  by  the  harmonies  of 
another. 

But  before  proceeding  further,  we  must  speak  briefly  of 
the  laws  which,  as  we  proceed,  will  be  seen  to  govern  the 
septinary  classifications,  and  by  which  it  may  be  generally 
known  whether  any  classification  is  correct.  In  each  correct 
classification,  the  members,  in  their  numerical  order,  may,  in 
general  terms,  be  distinguished  as  follows : 

Number  ONE  is  the  number  of  simple  unity. 

Two  is  the  number  of  productive  unity,  and  in  general 
terms  comprises  positive  and  negative,  active  and  passive,  or 
male  and  female,  principles. 

THREE  is  the  number  of  self-sustaining  unity. 

FOUR  is  the  number  of  Organization. 

FIVE  is  the  number  of  exterior  completeness.  There  being 
five  exterior  properties  to  outer  things,  man,  hence,  has  five 
exterior  senses,  whose  object  is  to  give  information  of  them  to 
the  interior  soul.  As  the  five  exterior  properties  also  exist, 
with  express  reference  to  two  interior  and  higher  properties, 
the  number  five  is  also  a  number  of  aspiration,  as  will  be 
better  understood  hereafter. 

Six  is  the  number  of  subordinal  association,  and  of 
harmonial,  peripheral  revolution,  as  around  a  governing 
center. 

SEVEN  is  the  number  of  final  completeness,  embracing  both 


NUMERICAL     CLASSIFICATION.  61 

exteriors  and  interiors.  Hence  it  is  the  pivotal  and  governing 
number  of  the  series.* 

This  septinary  classification  may  also  be  embodied  in  the 
triad.  Thus  the  first,  second,  and  third  members  of  any 
seven-fold  series,  form  one  trinity,  and  therefore  may  count  as 
a  unit ;  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  members  form  a  second 
trinity,  and  count  another  unit;  while  the  seventh  member, 
which  is  always  equal,  or  rather  superior,  to  all  the  rest  put 
together,  forms  a  third  unit,  and  completes  a  general  trinity. 
As  a  guide  to  correctness  in  any  septinary  classification,  it  is 
important  to  observe  that  the  first  and  second  trinities  in  the 
series,  should  bear  a  certain  general  and  particular  correspond- 
ence with  each  other. 

Whatever  obscurities  may  at  first  exist  in  the  foregoing 
statement,  will  be  abundantly  clarified  by  the  illustrative 
examples  which  will  incidentally  occur  as  we  proceed.  It  is  here 
given  mainly  as  a  hint  to  the  reader,  that  the  classifications  in 
which  we  shall  have  to  deal,  are  not  arbitrary,  but  founded 
in  the  nature  of  things.  Considering,  therefore,  that  each 
natural  seven-fold  series  corresponds  to,  and  illustrates  every 
other,  and  that  this  septinary  arrangement  runs  through  every 
complete  creation,  system,  and  Kingdom  in  nature,  the  degree 
of  reliance  which  may  be  placed  on  the  legitimate  results  of 
the  method  of  investigation  now  propose^,  as  well  as  the 
character  and  extent  of  those  results,  as  compared  with  what 
may  be  obtained  by  other  processes,  may  be  illustrated  as 
follows:  Suppose  there  are  a  large  number  of  timbers, 
hewn,  squared,  morticed,  etc.,  and  piled  confusedly  together. 

*  The  ancient  inspired  records  also  deal  largely  in  the  number  twelve  and  its 
multiples,  as  an  interiorly  significant  number.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  number 
twelve  is  evolved  from  the  seven-fold  series,  and  is  simply  the  number  of  six  pro- 
ductive unities,  or  positive  and  negative,  active  and  passive,  or  male  and  female, 
principles.  It  is  therefore,  also,  a  number  of  subordinal  association. 

6 


62  PRINCIPLES     OF     SYNTHESIS. 

The  superficial  observer,  uninstructed  in  the  synthetical 
principles  of  architecture,  may  take  most  accurate  measure- 
ments of  each  of  those  timbers,  and  may  give  most  correct 
descriptions  of  their  shapes,  abstract  qualities,  etc.,  ju-st  as 
science,  as  ordinarily  pursued,  gives  accurate  descriptions  of 
abstract  facts  which  constitute  the  timbers  of  the  great  temple 
of  Nature.  Such  an  observer,  however,  may  not  be  able  to 
discover  any  intended  connection  between  many  of  those 
timbers ;  may  be  able  to  form  little  or  no  idea  of  the  form, 
proportions,  or  correlative  parts  of  the  building  which  they 
would  constitute,  if  all  put  together,  and  may  even  doubt  that 
they  were  ever  all  intended  to  go  together  in  any  definite 
form ;  and  that  science  which  merely  analyzes,  but  does  not 
synthesyze,  experiences  much  the  same  difficulty  in  viewing 
the  timbers  of  the  temple  of  Nature.  But  suppose,  now,  that 
a  skillful  architect  comes  on  the  ground :  he  views  those  ap- 
parently heterogeneous  timbers,  not  only  analytically  (or  in 
isolated  detail),  but  also  synthetically,  or  in  their  relations  to 
each  other ;  and,  by  the  observance  of  simple  rules,  he  pro- 
ceeds— without  any  paring  or  forcing — perhaps  without  even 
the  "noise  of  the  hammer" — to  erect  a  magnificent  and 
glorious  temple,  in  which  there  is  a  place  for  every  timber, 
from  greatest  to  smallest,  and  a  timber  for  every  place  which 
requires  one.  Then  even  the  previous  superficial  and  merely 
analytical  observer  of  the  timbers  will  know,  if  he  surveys 
the  edifice,  that  those  timbers  were  intended  to  go  together 
precisely  in  the  relations  in  which  he  now  finds  them ;  and 
that  the  rule  or  theory  by  which  they  are  brought  together, 
is  true. 

Suppose  the  observer  noticed,  however,  that  in  the  erection 
of  the  building,  some  of  the  timbers  were  a  little  pared, 
or  forced,  or  warped,  in  order  to  make  them  join  with 


THE     TEMPLE     AND     ITS     PAETS.  63 

others :  still,  if  the  building,  when  erected,  exhibits  unmis- 
takable indications'  of  order,  and  symmetry,  and  harmony 
of  its  numerous  parts,  it  stands  as  evidence  of  general  truth- 
fulness of  the  architectural  rules  by  which  it  was  erected ; 
and,  if  it  is  then  known  that  the  hewer  of  those  timbers  was 
absolutely  perfect  in  his  artr  the  inference  would  be  legitimate, 
that  the  paring  and  distortion  used  in  putting  them  together, 
were  owing  to  the  ignorance  or  unskillfulness  on  the  part 
of  the  builder,  by  which  a  joist  or  a  post  was  occasionally 
inverted,  or  made  to  take  the  intended  place  of  another  of 
somewhat  similar  form. 

Now,  all  natural  facts  (which,  it  must  be  confessed, 
the  science  and  philosophy  of  the  day  view  in  an  aspect 
somewhat  heterogeneous)  are  timbers  of  the  great  temple  of 
Nature.  A  system  of  classification  and  reasoning,  therefore, 
by  which  these  various  facts,  as  timbers,  may  be,  without 
any  warping  or  forcing,  brought  into  the  form  of  one 
grand  system,  among  the  myriads  of  the  complicated  parts 
of  which  there  may  be  observed  a  mutual  dependence  and 
harmony  so  perfect,  that  the  loss  of  a  single  part  would 
sensibly  mar  the  symmetry  of  the  whole ;  then  we  may  be 
assured  that  this  system  is  the  true  one,  and  that  the 
structure  erected  by  it  is  a  structure  of  truth.  Now,  a 
system  of  classification  of  this  kind  must  exist  somewhere  in 
nature,  if  it  be  admitted  that  nature  is  not,  after  all,  a  more  or 
less  heterogeneous  and  disconnected  mass.  If  the  reader  can 
not  believe,  with  me,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  seven-fold  series 
and  its  natural  adjuncts,  as  herein  briefly  unfolded,  constitutes 
that  system,  it  is  confidently  believed  that  he  will  at  least  find  it 
immensely  suggestive,  compelling  nature,  in  many  instances, 
to  tell  her  own  story,  and  to  give  up  secrets  which  science 
and  philosophy  have  hitherto  been  inadequate  to  wrest  from 


64  PRINCIPLES      OF     SYNTHESIS. 

her  grasp.  For  the  several  years  which  have  elapsed  since  I 
was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  led  to  the  discovery  of  this  method 
of  correspondential  reasoning,  I  have  pursued  it  with  results 
which,  to  my  own  mind,  at  least,  have  been  intensely  satis- 
factory ;  and,  I  confess,  that  without  its  aid  I  could  not  have 
had  any  conceptions  which  might  have  been  regarded  even  as 
an  approximation  to  a  solution  of  many  of  the  questions 
discussed  in  this  work. 


CHAPTEK   VII. 

THE  SEVEN  FUNDAMENTAL  LAWS,  AND  THEIE   INTIMATIONS  EE- 
SPECTING  THE  ORIGIN  AND  STEUCTUKE  OF  THE  UNIVEESE. 

DEEMING  the  foregoing  a  sufficient  exposition  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  shall  guide  us  in  our  further  inquiries,  we  now 
proceed  to  our  proposed  synthetical  investigation  of  the  system 
of  being  without  us.  Pursuing  the  natural  order  of  pro- 
gression, from  fundamentals  and  generals  to  ultimates  and 
particulars,  we  will  first  institute  some  comprehensive  in- 
quiries respecting  the  origin,  structure,  government,  etc.,  of 
the  physical  universe  as  a  whole;  and  afterward,  similar 
inquiries  shall  be  pursued  in  relation  to  the  Solar  System,  the 
planet  on  which  we  dwell,  and  the  various  systems  of  inani- 
mate and  animate  creation  which  exist  upon  its  surface,  of 
which  the  ultimate  and  highest  is  the  human  organization. 

And,  in  view  of  the  new  method  of  reasoning  which  we 
have  unfolded,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  if  the  origin,  con- 
stitution, laws,  functional  operations,  etc.,  of  any  one  of  the 
systematic  creations  proposed  for  investigation,  can  be  eluci- 
dated directly  and  more  clearly  than  any  other,  it  will  serve 
as  a  correspondential  guide  to  the  further  elucidation  of  all  the 
others.  Thus,  with  a  proper  classification  of  the  correspond- 
ing series  and  degrees  of  nature's  unfoldings  and  operations, 
the  known  will  'cast  the  whole  light  of  its  analogies  upon  the 
unknown — just  as  each  timber  of  a  temple  hints  the  shape  and 
nature  of  the  timbers  with  which  it  is  to  be  conjoined,  and 


66  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

thus  serves  as  a  guide  to  the  erection  of  the  edifice ;  or,  as  a 
single  fossil  bone  of  an  extinct  and  previously  unknown 
animal,  enables  the  comparative  anatomist  to  describe  with 
accuracy,  the  animal  as  it  lived  and  moved  upon  the  earth  in 
its  organic  completeness.  Our  method,  if  successfully  pur- 
sued, will,  moreover,  develop  the  unity  of  principle  pervading, 
in  different  degrees,  all  creations,  from  lowest  to  highest — the 
unity  and  harmony,  therefore,  of  the  one  and  only  system  of 
universal  truth;  and,  as  we  pursue  the  revelations  of  the 
physical  universe,  from  its  rudiments  to  its  higher  unfoldings, 
our  thoughts,  from  the  accumulating  analogies,  will  gain  such 
an  upward  impetus  as  may  hereafter  carry  them  directly 
through  the  line  of  those  higher  and  corresponding  truths, 
which  relate  to  man  physiologically,  psychologically,  spiritu- 
ally— socially,  politically,  and  religiously. 

With  respect  to  the  origin,  structure,  laws,  etc.,  of  the  uni- 
versal cosmical  system,  we  commence  our  reasonings  with  a 
postulate  which,  whether  strictly  true  or  not,  can  not  lead  us 
into  important  error  in  our  subsequent  deductions,  since  we 
have  so  many  correctives  of  inharmony,  as  involved  in  the 
general  series  of  corresponding  and  harmonious  octaves  of 
developments  through  which  the  path  of  our  investigations 
will  lead  us.  The  postulate  is,  That  God,  from  the  prompt 
ings  of  his  own  interior  soul,  which  is  Love,  under  the 
direction  of  his  Wisdom,  which  gave  order  and  form  to  the 
operations  of  Love,  formed  from  the  most  exterior,  or,  if  the 
expression  may  be  allowed,  the  least  Divine  and  most  nearly 
physical,  portion  of  his  own  personal  emanations,  as  many  de- 
grees, varieties,  or  perhaps  classes  of  atomic  particles,  as  cor- 
responded to  the  general  seven-fold  harmonies  of  his  own 
Infinite  nature.  The  supposition  that  the  varieties  of  these 
primitive  atoms  are,  in  number,  just  seven,  or  a  multiple  of 


PRIMORDIAL     MATTER.  67 

seven,  is  admitted  to  be  purely  a  priori,  but  is  a  legitimate 
deduction  from  principles  before  established :  it  is  here 
offered  as  an  introduction  to  propositions  more  certain,  and 
from  which  it,  in  its  turn,  will  receive  confirmation ;  though, 
if  it  could  be  proved  to  be  untrue,  it  would  not  essentially 
affect  our  main  argument.  These  varieties  of  atoms,  then 
(whatever  their  number  may  have  been),  may  be  supposed  to 
have  constituted  Matter  in  its  primitive  state,  which  probably 
was  characterized  by  none  of  the  distinctive  properties  of  oxy- 
gen, hydrogen,  nitrogen,  calcium,  potassium,  or  any  others  of 
the  so-called  "elements"  known  to  chemistry.  In  being 
evolved,  in  particleized  form,  from  the  emanated  personal 
Essence  of  the  Divine  Being,  the  substance  thus  particleized 
ceased  to  constitute  any  necessary  portion  of  the  Divine 
Person,  and  formed  a  Realm  or  degree  of  Being  by  itself,  but 
still  a  Realm  of  Being  corresponding  to,  immediately  connected 
with,  and  capable  of  receiving  direct  influx  of  vital  energy  from, 
the  great  Personal  Realm  of  Spirit  from  which  it  proceeded. 
This  vital  influx,  however,  may  be  supposed  to  have  been 
altogether  optional  on  the  part  of  the  great  Generative  Spirit, 
even  as  was  the  evolution  and  particleization  of  essence 
itself;  and,  without  the  direct  communication  to  it,  of  an  im- 
pelling energy  from  the  Divine  source  of  all  energy,  matter, 
thus  constituted,  would,  as  before  shown,  have  forever  re- 
mained inert. 

We  are  next,  therefore  to  inquire  into  the  origin  and  laws 
of  MOTION  in  this  primeval  chaotic  mass. 

Admitting,  what  was  before  proved,  that  inertia  is  an 
inseparable  property  of  matter  left  solely  to  itself,  it  is  self- 
evident  that  Motion  could  have  been  the  product  only  of  a 
Force  adequate  to  overcome  the  tendency  of  matter  to  remain 
fixed.  Though  force  is  essentially  of  the  same  general  nature 


68  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

in  whatsoever  direction  it  may  act,  there  are  several  modifica- 
tions of  the  dynamic  agents  in  which  force  originates.  These, 
requiring,  as  they  do,  a  separate  chapter  for  their  proper  eluci- 
dation, shall  only  receive  such  allusions  in  this  place  as  will 
be  necessary  to  the  explication  of  the  laws  by  which  force 
acts  in  producing  motion,  aggregation,  segregation,  reciprocal 
transference,  and  structural  stability. 

It  has  before  been  repeatedly  remarked,  that  the  universe 
without  corresponds  to  the  universe  within  man,  and  that 
therefore  all  principles  and  developments  of  the  outer  universe 
may  be  conceived  of  by  the  fully  unfolded  human  faculties. 
This  is  because  man  is,  physically  and  spiritually,  an  epitome 
of  all  previous  Divine  unfoldings,  and  therefore  is  a  microcosm 
or  little  universe  of  himself.  Though  it  is  proposed  to  con- 
sider the  discreet  degrees  of  creation  in  their  natural  order  of 
unfolding,  tracing  each  octave  fts  it  passes  upward  and  merges 
into  a  higher  and  corresponding  one,  until  the  whole  merge 
(loosely"  speaking)  into  man ;  yet,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrat- 
ing the  forces  and  laws  of  the  physical  universe  by  the  same 
forces  and  laws  which,  in  an  ultimately  sublimated  degree,  ap- 
ply to  man,  we  will  here  so  far  anticipate  the  appropriate 
subject  of  the  second  part  of  this  work,  as  to  exhibit  the  fol- 
lowing self-evident  truths  respecting  the  human  economy. 

In  man  (the  microcosm  or  little  universe)  there  is,  1.  Pas- 
sion or  Love,  which  corresponds  to  Heat ;  2.  Intelligence  or 
Wisdom,  which  corresponds  to  light ;  3.  Nerve-essence,  which 
corresponds  to  electricity  (these  three  forming  a  trinity) ;  4. 
The  agent  which  attracts  circulating  particles,  and  deposits 
them  in  the  solid  portions  of  the  organism  ;  5.  The  agent 
which  removes  particles  from  lower  tissues,  and  deposits  them 
in  higher ;  6.  The  agent  which  acts  and  re-acts  sympathetically 
between  one  organ  and  another  (these  three  forming  a  second 


DYNAMIC     AGENTS     AND     LAWS.  69 

and  corresponding  trinity  of  dynamic  agents) ;  and,  7.  The 
interior,  unitizing,  and  vital  agent,  which  pervades  and  governs 
all  the  preceding. 

Accompanying,  and  precisely  answering  to,  these  seven 
dynamic  agents  in  man,  are  seven  laws,  or  modes,  by  which  the 
former  operate.  These  are,  1.  Expansion,  governing  all  dias- 
tolic  movements ;  2.  Contraction,  governing  all  systolic  move- 
ments ;  3.  Circulation,  governing  all  rudimentally  reciprocat- 
ing movements  (first  trinity) ;  4.  Aggregation,  governing  all 
depositing  and  organizing  operations ;  5.  Segregation,  governing 
all  ascending  movements ;  6.  The  law  governing  all  sympa- 
thetic movements  (second  trinity) ;  7.  The  law  of  all  vital, 
unitizing,  and  governing  operations,  the  vital  and  spiritual 
constitution  as  a  whole  being  here  the  mover. 

Now,  in  the  macracosm,  or  great  universe,  we  have,  1. 
Heat,  which  corresponds  to  Passion  or  Love ;  2.  Light,  which 
corresponds  to  Intelligence  or  Wisdom  ;  and  3.  Electricity, 
which  corresponds  to  nerve-essence,  in  the  little  universe — 
these  forming  a  fundamental  trinity  of  dynamic  agents  as 
operative  in  outer  nature.  There  is  also  a  second  and  corre- 
sponding trinity  of  dynamic  agents  in  nature,  and  also  a  seventh 
and  vitalizing  agent,  as  corresponding  to  the  same  in  man ; 
but  these  important  agents  shall  be  illustrated  hereafter. 
Assuming  their  existence  for  the  present,  however,  we  may 
remark,  that,  corresponding  to  these  seven  dynamic  agents, 
there  are  also  seven  laws  which  govern  the  outer  universe,  a-nd 
all  its  correspondent  sub-creations,  whether  in  the  animate  or 
inanimate  departments  of  being.  These  laws,  indeed,  are  the 
same  throughout  with  those  which  we  have  seen  to  apply  to 
man,  though  in  lower  creations  they  exist  in  lower  degrees  of 
development.  They  may  be  exhibited,  with  their  ternary  re- 
lations, in  the  following  table : 


70  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 


PRIMARY  TRINITY. 

1.  Expansion. 

2.  Contraction  or  Attraction. 

3.  Circulation. 


SECONDARY  TRINITY. 

4.  Aggregation. 

5.  Segregation. 

6.  Sympathetic  reciprocation. 


7.  Vital  complex  unity. 

Here,  it  will  be  perceived,  is  a  regularly  graduated  progres- 
sion in  the  order  o*"  elements,  ascending  from  first  to  last,  as 
it  were,  through  the  different  stratifications  of  one  complete 
system.  They  maintain  relations  to  each  other  similar  to  the 
relations  of  the  different  parts  of  a  tree ;  viz.,  the  first  is  the 
root  of  the  series ;  the  second  is  the  trunk ;  the  third  is  the 
branches ;  the  fourth  the  leaves,  and  the  completion  of  the 
organic  form  of  the  tree  (wherefore,  No  4.  in  any  seven-fold 
series  always  corresponds  to  aggregation,  organization,  or  as- 
sociation) ;  No.  5  commences  the  segregative  or  reproductive 
process,  and  corresponds  to  the  flower  buds ;  No.  6  corre- 
sponds to  the  flowers,  and  No.  7  always  corresponds  to  the 
fruit,  embodying  in  itself  the  sublimated  elements  of  the  whole 
tree,  together  with  the  seed  or  germ  of  a  future  and  corre- 
sponding creation. 

The  first  trinity  in  the  series  approximately  corresponds  to 
the  second,  but  the  correspondence  is  rather  by  way  of  coun- 
terpart, or  antithesis,  than  in  any  other  way  which  may  be 
easily  defined  ;  and  in  the  general  trinity,  comprehending  the 
whole  septinity,  may  be  observed  a  general  correspondence 
with  the  sub-trinities.* 

These,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind,  are  claimed  simply  as  the 
fundamental  and  all-comprehensive  laws  of  natural  and  moral 

*  These  g&neral  principles  of  classification,  not  only  in  respect  to  dynamic  agents 
and  laws,  but  their  corresponding  forms  and  developments,  are  applicable  to  all  natural 
series  or  octaves,  and  by  duly  comprehending  and  observing  them,  with  the  peculiar 
and  relative  characteristics  of  their  parts,  we  may  be  able  always  to  distinguish  true 
*rom  false  classifications. 


PRIMEVAL      OPERATIONS.  71 

existence,  saying  nothing  of  those  numerous  sub-modes  of  ope- 
ration, commonly  called  laws,  which  grow  out  of  them.  The 
essential  principles  of  these  general  laws,  in  their  simple  and 
combined  states,  and  in  their  various  degrees  of  sublimation 
and  ascension,  as  applicable  to  the  different  degrees  of  creation, 
will,  we  apprehend,  be  found  to  involve  a  sufficient  explanation 
of  every  mode  in  which  original  Divine  Force  operates  in  the 
production  of  the  various  phenomena  of  creation. 

Considering,  then,  that  the  primeval  chaotic  materials,  out 
of  which  the  universe  was  formed,  did  not  originally,  and  of 
themselves,  possess  any  force  or  motion,  we  proceed,  in  the 
light  of  the  foregoing  principles,  to  inquire  more  particularly 
Whence,  and  how,  originated  the  forces,  laws,  and  motions 
from  whose  diversified  operations  has  resulted  the  stupendous 
system  of  being  by  which  we  are  surrounded,  and  of  which 
we  are  a  part  1 — and  what  was  the  order  of  progressive  devel- 
opment, and  what  is  the  general  structural  form  of  the  cosmi- 
cal  universe,  which  must  have  legitimately  resulted  from  these 
causes  ?  And,  as  it  has  been  before  shown  that  all  the  prin- 
ciples that  are  involved  in  the  infinite,  may  be  epitomized  in 
the  infinitesimal,  we  may,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  and 
without  injury  to  the  argument,  reduce  the  subject  of  our  con- 
templations to  an  imaginary  scale  of  magnitude  which  may 
easily  be  conceived  by  the  human  mind,  and  which  will  allow 
of  all  progressive  operations  being  surveyed  as  from  a  single 
stand-point. 

The  influence  which  may  most  naturally  be  conceived  to 
have  first  acted  upon  primordial  matter  to  impel  it  to  ascending 
developments,  was  Divine  Love.  Now,  Divine  Love  corre- 
sponds to  Heat — is,  indeed,  spiritual  heat  itself,  and  thus  is  the 
first  expansive  impulse  of  mind.  It  is  so  in  man,  as  well  as  in 


72  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

the  Deity ;  and  its  correspondence  with  physical  heat  is  instinct- 
ively recognized  by  the  human  mind,  and  is  implied  in  the 
phraseology  with  which  men  naturally  speak  of  it.  Thus  we 
speak  of  one  in  whom  the  love  or  passional  principle  predom- 
inates, as  a  "warm-hearted  man,"  as  an  "ardent  enthusiast," 
or  as  a  man  of  "fiery  disposition."  On  the  principle,  there- 
fore, that  all  bodies  are  developments  from  an  interior  soul, 
and  all  natural  phenomena  have  an  ultimate  spiritual  origin,  we 
may  conceive  that  while  the  great  Kingdom  of  Matter  was  in 
such  immediate  relation  and  juxtaposition  to  the  great  King- 
dom of  Spirit,  its  Cause,  Divine  Love  (or  Divine  Spiritual  Heat) 
flowed  directly  into  the  Realm  of  Matter,  and  especially  into 
its  seventh  or  highest  and  proximately  vital  degree  as  being 
most  in  affinity  with  the  Divine  Spirit  itself,  and  that  the 
effect  of  this  influx  was  an  immediate  generation  of  a  corre- 
sponding natural  heat.*  This  heat  must  necessarily  have  been 
attended  by  an  immediate  expansion  of  the  recipient  particle 
or  collection  of  particles,  and  by  the  evolution  of  a  magnetic 
or  magnetoid  atmosphere  partaking  of  the  nature  of  the  parti- 
cle's interior  vitality.  Divine  Wisdom  (or  spiritual  light) 
entering  writh,  and  acting  through,  the  Love,  pervades  this 
atmosphere,  and  brings  it  into  the  nature  of  physical  light,  to 
which  wisdom  corresponds.f 

The  expansion  resulting  from  the  heat  must  necessarily  have 

*  That  natural  heat  may  be  produced  by  what  we  have  here  termed  spiritual  heat, 
is  shewn  by  the  fact,  that  when  passion  flows  from  the  interior  soul  into  the  nervous 
tissues  of  the  human  body,  it  raises  the  general  temperature  of  the  body,  quickens  the 
circulations,  produces  a  flush  of  the  countenance,  and  a  burning  of  the  cheeks,  and,  in 
general,  greatly  increases  the  physical  powers.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  the  general 
principles  of  this  portion  of  our  theory  were  taught  by  the  celebrated  Swedenborg,  though 
we  have  arrived  at  them  by  an  independent  process  of  induction. 

t  It  is  well  known  that  natural  light  consists  of  seven  prismatic  rays ;  and  this  fact 
hints  at  the  corresponding  seven-fold  nature  of  Divine  Wisdom,  and  hence,  also,  of 
Divine  Love,  its  inseparable  associate. 


O BIG  IN     OF     CENTRAL     SUN.  73 

produced  a  comparative  vacuum — that  is,  a  vacuum  in  respect 
to  those  essences  which  were  subjected  to  the  expansion,  and 
therefore  produced  a  tendency  to  an  absorption  or  rushing  in 
of  corresponding  essences  composing  neighboring  particles, 
and  which  had  not  yet,  in  the  same  degree,  been  acted  upon 
by  the  expansive  force.  Moreover,  the  active  light-sphere  (or 
Wisdom-principle)  which  is  an  orderly  procedure  from  Heat, 
(or  Love),  or  accompaniment  of,  and  the  administration  to,  its 
wants,  formed  a  recognizing  and  sympathetic  connection  be- 
tween the  particle  first  acted  upon  and  the  particle  immedi- 
ately conterminous ;  and  by  an  envelopment  of  the  relatively 
passive  particle  in  the  light-sphere  of  the  relatively  active  one, 
the  former  would  become  assimilated  to  the  latter,  and,  float- 
ing to  it  through  the  circulating  currents  of  the  enveloping 
light-sphere,  in  the  same  way  that  the  particle  of  iron  "floats 
to  the  magnet  through  currents  of  the  magnetic  essence,  it 
would  become  incorporated  with  it  as  a  part  of  the  same 
body.  Thus,  as  each  particle  is  made  the  recipient  of  the 
essence  of  Divine  Love,  it  lovingly  opens  its  heart,  and  ex- 
tends its  ethereal  arms  to  receive  and  embrace  its  brother,  and 
the  two  thus  become  one.  And  being  thus  united,  and  be- 
coming recipients  for  a  further  influx  of  heat,  the  same  opera- 
tion that  before  took  place,  is  now  repeated  on  a  little  larger 
scale,  and  more  particles  are  attracted.  And  so  the  process 
continues  to  be  repeated,  until  the  minute  nucleus  of  a  CEN- 
TRAL SUN  is  fully  established,  which,  by  a  continuation  of  the 
same  process  of  unfolding,  goes  on  to  complete  development, 
forming  the  whole  universal  mass  of  physical  substance  into 
one  coherent  and  undivided  Body,  dense  in  the  center,  and 
gradually  shading  off  into  extreme  levity  toward  the  circum- 
ference. 

If^  instead  of  supposing  this  operation  to  commence  in  in- 

7    * 


74:  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

finitesimal  particles,  \ve  suppose  it  to  commence  in  a  few 
cubic  feet,  or  in  hundreds,  or  thousands,  or  millions  of  cubic 
miles  of  central  matter,  or  if  we  suppose  (what  is  probably 
more  nearly  the  truth)  that  all  particles  in  the  universal  mass 
were  simultaneously  vitalized,  but  in  different  degrees,  by  the 
influx  of  Divine  spiritual  heat,  and  that  each  commenced 
forthwith,  a  tendency  toward  particles  more  vitalized  than 
themselves,  and  all  a  tendency  toward  the  particle  most  vital- 
ized, the  principle  involved  will  be  the  same,  and  the  ultimate 
result  of  the  operation  will  be  the  same. 

If  the  foregoing  theory  of  the  initial  steps  of  the  creative  pro- 
cess is  true,  it  not  only  affords  us  an  example  of  the  incipient 
operations,  but  an  illustration  of  the  very  cause  of  gravitation, 
of  which  latter  I  believe  no  adequate  explanation  has  yet  been 
afforded  by  any  of  the  common  philosophies  of  the  day. 
There  are,  however,  in  subsequent  stages  of  the  creative  un- 
folding, higher  elements  and  forces  which  enter  into,  modify, 
and  render  more  definite,  the  phenomenon  of  gravitation,  as 
will  be  seen. 

The  manner  in  which  two  streams  of  particles  flowing  from 
opposite  directions  toward  a  common  center,  tend  to  produce 
a  rotatory  motion  in  any  collection  of  central  particles,  has  been 
explained  by  those  who  have  written  on  the  nebular  theory  of 
the  origin  of  worlds  and  their  motions.*  The  idea  may  be 
apprehended  from  the  following  illustration :  Suppose  that 
two  balls  of  equal  weight,  are  rolled  with  equal  velocity,  over 
the  floor  from  opposite  sides  of  a  room,  and  that  they  at  the 
same  instant  impinge  upon  a  third  ball  lying  at  rest  in  the 
center  of  the  floor.  If  the  two  strike  the  ball  at  rest  in  a  line 
exactly  cutting  its  center,  no  motion  will  be  generated  in  the 

*  See  particularly  Nichol's  "  Architecture  of  the  Heavens." 


ORIGIN     OF     KOTAEY     MOTION.  75 

latter  ball.  But  there  are  a  great  many  chances  against  both 
balls  striking  in  such  a  line,  and  if  we  suppose  a  constant  stream 
of  balls  (corresponding  to  particles)  flowing  inward  toward  the 
central  ball,  the  probability  of  the  latter  being  soon  struck  a 
little  out  of  the  line  of  its  center,  would  amount  to  an  almost 
absolute  certainty.  In  case  this  should  happen,  a  rotary  mo- 
tion of  the  central  body  would  necessarily  take  place  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  momentum  of  the  body  or  bodies  impinging  upon 
it,  especially  if  the  latter  bodies,  as  a  result  of  magnetic  or 
other  attraction,  attach  themselves  permanently  to  the  surface 
of  the  former  while  still  under  the  influence  of  this  mo- 
mentum. 

Suppose,  then,  there  is  a  constant  stream  of  bodies  flowing 
inward  from  all  directions  toward  the  central  body,  as  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  case  with  particles  of  nebulous  matter  flowing 
inward  toward  a  common  center ;  the  rotation  of  the  central 
mass  itself  when  once  established,  will,  by  the  friction  of  its 
revolving  atmosphere,  if  from  no  other  cause,  be  sufficient  to 
throw  the  approaching  end  of  every  radial  line  of  gravitating 
particles  out  in  the  same  direction  from  its  center,  and  thus  the 
momentum  of  every  impinging  particle  will  add  to  the  ten- 
dency to  central  rotation.  As  the  particles  gradually  estab- 
lish relations  with  each  other,  through  their  various  degrees 
of  attenuation  from  center  to  circumference,  rotation  will 
gradually  be  established  throughout  the  whole  mass,  the  mo- 
tion being  relatively  swift  at  the  center,  and  gradually  grow- 
ing slower  at  every  remove  toward  the  circumference,  where 
it  is  the  slowest. 

The  idea  has  been  illustrated  by  a  reference  to  the  effect 
produced  by  different  currents  of  water  flowing  toward  a  com- 
mon center,  which  effect  is  well  known  to  be  that  of  a  whirl, 
rapid  at  the  point  of  meeting,  and  growing  more  tardy  at 


Y6  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

every  remove  from  said  point,  until  it  dies  upon  the  shore,  or 
is  lost  in  the  general  motion  of  the  stream. 

If  we  have  in  these  principles,  as  we  appear  to  have,  a  su£ 
ficient  account  for  the  origin  of  all  rotatory  motion  in  the 
celestial  spaces,  it  were  certainly  unphilosophical  to  look  for 
its  origin  in  any  foreign  or  arbitrary  impulse. 

All  the  phenomena  we  have  thus  far  considered,  therefore, 
may  be  traced  to  the  operations  of  two  Jaws,  viz.,  Expansion 
and  Attraction — the  first  being  based  upon  Heat,  and  the 
second  upon  Heat  and  Light  combined — which  elements,  again, 
owe  their  origin  to  the  corresponding  principles  of  Divine 
Love  and  Wisdom,  or  spiritual  Heat  and  Light.  We  come 
now  to  consider  the  operations  and  results  of  a  third  law — the 
law  of  Circulation. 

While  men  of  science  have  minutely  traced  the  operations 
and  phenomena  of  gravitation,  they  have  taken  comparatively 
little  cognizance  of  any  reactive  force  from  the  attracting 
body.  Yet,  without  the  aid  of  a  reactive  or  emanative  force, 
to  counterbalance,  in  some  measure,  the  gravitative  power,  it 
would  be  impossible  to  conceive,  on  rational  principles,  of  the 
formation  of  any  other  body  than  the  first  and  universal  Body, 
which  would  selfishly  absorb  all  materials,  and  give  forth  none. 
But  it  would  only  be  in  accordance  with  universal  analogy,  to 
suppose  that  while  this  constant  secretion  was  going  on,  there 
was  also  as  constantly  kept  up  a  countervailing  process  of  ex- 
cretion. Particles  absorbed  into  the  central  mass  (or,  what  is 
the  same  thing,  the  denser  portion  of  the  whole  united  mass), 
would,  by  the  action  of  its  superior  vitality,  undergo  a  quasi 
process  of  digestion,  and  portions  of  their  essence  would  be- 
come refined  and  sublimated,  and  would  be  sent  off  again  into 
space,  to  the  opposite  materials  of  which  they  would  in  their 
turn  be  attracted^  in  the  same  way  as  positive  and  negative 


LAW     OF     CIRCULATION. 

electricities  are  mutually  attracted.  As  all  gravitating  parti- 
cles can  not  go  absolutely  to  the  center  (some  being  crowded 
out  by  others),  and  all  emanated  particles  can  not,  for  a  similar 
reason,  recede  to  the  circumference,  so  each  finds  an  equilib- 
rium, and  takes  a  position,  between  center  and  circumference, 
according  to  its  specific  density  or  levity.  And  now,  a  similar 
process  of  digestion  necessarily  go3s  on  among  gravitating 
and  emanating  particles  which  find  their  common  equilibrium 
at  any  given  distance  from  the  center,  and  by  their  mutual 
action  and  reaction,  another  change  and  excretion  takes  place, 
and  the  rejected  particles,  being  in  a  state  exactly  opposite  to 
that  of  the  particles  thrown  off  from  the  great  Center,  now 
gravitate  again  toward  that  Center,  there  to  experience  and 
produce  still  further  changes.  Thus  there  is  a  constant  action 
and  reaction,  flux  and  reflux,  between  center  and  circumfer- 
ence, and  between  all  intermediate  parts  of  the  great  mass  ; 
and  the  law  governing  this  reciprocating  movement  is  what  we 
mean  by  the  law  of  Circulation.  It  corresponds  to  circulation, 
or  to  the  flux  and  reflux  of  venous  and  arterial  blood  to  and 
from  the  heart  in  the  little  universe,  or  the  human  system, 
even  as  the  laws  of  Expansion  and  Attraction  (or  contraction), 
before  considered,  correspond  respectively  to  the  diastolic  and 
systolic  motions  of  the  heart,  Jungs,  and  perhaps  the  minute 
vesicles,  or  "  corcula,"  of  the  brain.  Being  the  third  law  of 
the  universe,  it  corresponds  to  the  third  element  of  the  Divine 
essential  Constitution,  which  is  the  Divine  Sphere  of  operative 
Energy,  which,  again,  corresponds  to  the  nerve-essence  in  man, 
and  which  latter  corresponds  to  Electricity  in  the  universe 
— this  being  actually  the  agent  mainly  concerned  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  phenomenon  now  under  special  consideration. 

The  laws  of  Expansion,  Contraction,  and  Circulation,  there- 
fore, form  a  trinity,  as  dependent  upon  the  triune  elements 


78  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

of  Heat,  Light,  and  Electricity ;  and  which  latter  are  related 
to  the  corresponding  three-fold  Divine  spiritual  elements  of 
Love,  Wisdom,  and  Vehicle  of  operative  Energy. 

The  Fourth  law,  is  a  law  of  Organization,  and  brings  the 
elements  and  motives  previously  developed,  into  a  state  of 
systematic  and  serial  Aggregation. 

Before  rotatory  motion  is  fully  established  in  the  mass  of 
matter,  the  gravitating  and  emanating  particles  would  proceed 
toward,  and  from,  the  center,  in  nearly  straight  lines.  But 
after  said  motion  is  fully  established,  and  becomes  general 
throughout  the  mass,  both  kinds  of  particles  would  proceed  in 
aberrent  or  curved  lines,  the  curves  corresponding  to  the  direc- 
tion of  motion  in  the  revolving  matter — in  the  same  manner 
in  which  a  person  attempting  to  row  a  boat  in  the  direction  of 
a  radius  of  a  circle  or  vortex  of  water  flowing  round  a  center, 
would,  if  he  kept  the  side  of  his  boat  always  square  to  the  stream, 
be  carried  out  of  a  direct  line  a  distance  proportioned  to  the 
rapidity  of  the  current,  and  would  thus  describe  a  curved  path. 

But  it  is  evident,  for  reasons  already  intimated,  that  neither 
can  all  the  gravitating  particles  take,  at  any  one  time,  a 
position  entirely  at  the  center,  nor  can  all  the  emanating 
particles  take  a  simultaneous  position  entirely  at  the  circum- 
ference, but  that  each  will  assu'me  a  position  with  reference  to 
the  two  extremes,  where  it  finds  an  equilibrium,  and  will  keep 
this  position  until  a  change  fits  it  for  another.  Suppose,  then, 
that  a  gravitating  and  emanating  particle  are  in  exactly  op- 
posite states  to  each  other  in  respect  to  their  degrees  of 
positiveness  or  negativeness :  it  is  evident  that  both  particles 
would  find  a  common  equilibrium  only  at  the  same  distance 
and  position  between  the  center  and  circumference.  They 
would  there  meet,  and  by  virtue  of  their  elective  affinities, 
form  a  union  as  male  and  female  particles,  and  would  assume 


CONCENTRIC     RINGS.  79 

a  circular  or  orlitual  motion,  coincident  with  the  rotating 
motion  of  the  general  mass,  which  MOTION  the  united  mo- 
menta of  their  previously  gravitative  and  emanative  movements 
would  tend  to  sustain. 

Now,  supposing  that  there  were  originally  just  seven  kinds 
or  classes  of  atomic  particles  (no  matter  into  how  many  more 
kinds  or  classes  these  were  susceptible  of  being  subdivided), 
it  is  easy  to  perceive  that  the  foregoing  principles  would 
probably  involve  something  like  the  following  results:  one  class 
of  atoms,  rejecting  the  immediate  companfcmship  of  all  others, 
would  cluster  around  a  central  point,  and  form  a  sun.  Each 
of  the  other  six  classes  of  atoms,  in  like  manner,  rejecting  the 
immediate  companionship  of  other  atoms,  while  obeying  the 
impulses  of  its  internal  and  strongest  affinities,  would  assume 
a  general  distance  from  the  center  determined  by  its  specific 
point  of  equilibrium,  and  there,  contracting  upon  itself, 
would  form  a  mass  of  its  own,  in  the  general  shape  of  a  ring, 
surrounding  the  interior  solar  mass.  Here  we  have  a  law  of 
deposition  and  aggregation,  corresponding  to  the  law  by  which 
particles,  circulating  in  the  human  blood,  are  deposited  and 
aggregated  in  the  form  of  muscle,  cellular  tissues,  etc. 

The  universal  system,  as  thus  definitely  organized,  would, 
therefore,  supposing  that  there  are  seven  general  varieties  of 
matter,  present  the  form  of  six  concentric  rings  of  nebulous 
matter,  surrounding  the  seventh  formation,  which  is  the  central 
sun.  But  if  there  were  a  greater  or  less  number  of  kinds  of 
matter,  there  would  be  a  correspondingly  greater  or  less  num- 
ber of  rings,  but  all  constructed  on  the  same  principle.  Of 
this  annular  structure  we  have  a  general  analogue,  though  on 
a  small  scale,  in  the  rings  of  the  planet  Saturn,  and  also  on  a 
larger  scale,  in  the  annular  nebulae,  of  which  there  are  a  few 
examples  in  the  heavens. 


80  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

It  should  be  added,  however,  that  the  idea  of  this  concentric 
annular  form  of  structure  can  only  hold  when  associated  with 
the  supposition,  that  the  primitive  point  of  general  gravitation 
was  at,  or  near,  the  center  of  the  chaotic  mass.  If  the  gravi- 
tative  point  was  far  out  of  the  center,  then  the  evolved 
masses,  instead  of  assuming  the  forms  of  circles,  would  assume 
the  form  of  ellipses,  having  a  preponderance  of  their  materials 
on  one  side  of  the  sun,  where,  indeed,  the  whole  might  be  sub- 
sequently drawn  by  the  superior  gravitating  force  of  their 
major  quantity,  and  form  a  separate  revolving  mass.  In 
either  case,  however,  the  fundamental  principles  involved 
would  be  the  same.  But  of  the  general  prevalence  of  the 
annular,  or,  at  least,  elliptical  form  of  structure,  in  the  sidereal 
realms,  there  is  a  sufficiency  of  ocular  proof,  as  incidentally 
exhibited  in  a  previous  chapter. 

The  FIFTH  law,  governing  a  corresponding  fifth  develop- 
ment, is  the  law  of  SEGREGATION,  by  which  the  materials  of 
the  previous  annular  formations,  obeying  higher  and  more 
specific  elective  affinities,  separate  into  different  masses,  of 
higher  and  lower  degrees  of  refinement. 

The  nature  and  modus  operandi  of  this  law,  may  be  under- 
stood by  the  following  considerations :  The  completion  of  the 
last  or  circular  formation,  brings  the  materials  of  the  universe 
to  a  triune  degree  above  their  primeval  or  chaotic  state.  Of 
course,  therefore,  not  only  the  essences,  but  the  activities  and 
inter-activities  of  the  \vhole  structure,  are  more  refined, 
diversified,  and  systematic.  Each  nebulous  ring  is  now  itself 
a  comparatively  independent  theater  of  molecular  force  and 
motion,  and  all  of  them  act  upon  each  other  by  their  gravi- 
tative  and  emanative  forces,  while  the  central  sun,  as  the 
great  heart  of  the  system,  continues  to  send  forth  his  vivify- 
ing and  generative  influence  to  all. 


SEGEEGATED     MASSES.  SI 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  the  annular  masses,  being  not 
only  internally  active,  but  penetrated  in  various  directions  by 
the  refracted  emanations  from  the  central  sun,  would  be 
liable  to  be  rarefied  at  particular  points  and  condensed  at 
others,  and-  thus  to  be  shrunken  and  cleft  apart,  at  particular 
lines  and  angles,  and  that  by  inherent  action  of  the  particles 
of  the  rings  themselves,  contraction  would  take  place  from 
these  lines  of  cleavage,  and  that  the  materials  previously 
united,  would  thus  be  segregated  into  separate  masses.  These 
masses  would,  on  the  same  principle,  be  liable  to  be  sub- 
divided into  inferior  masses  of  greater  or  less  number,  in 
proportion  to  their  respective  original  magnitudes.  This 
whole  process  of  segregation  or  fragmentation,  is  faintly 
illustrated  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  clouds  after  a  storm,  and 
their  resolution  into  separate  masses. 

According  to  principles  before  explained,  each  general 
mass,  owing  to  its  particles  gravitating  to  a  common  center 
within  itself,  would  assume  a  general  rotatory  motion  which, 
for  reasons  which  mathematicians  will  readily  conceive,  would 
necessarily  conform  in  its  direction  to  the  revolution  of  the 
great  ring  of  mundane  materials  to  which  it  belonged,  and 
each  sub-mass  would  have  a  particular  rotating  motion  of  its 
own,  which  would  conform  to  the  motion  of  the  general  mass 
to  which  it  belonged,  i.  e.,  supposing  that  there  were  not  in 
either  case  any  particular  or  incidental  causes  of  disturbance. 
Thus  general  masses  and  their  included  ^6-masses,  with  their 
general  and  particular  centers  of  gravitation  and  revolution, 
would,  by  further  progression,  form  general  stellar  systems, 
and  their  included  sub-systems,  and  finally,  also,  systems  of 
planets  and  satellites,  all  of  which  latter  would  be  evolved  by 
the  progressive  unfoldings  of  the  same  principles  heretofore  ex- 
plained as  governing  the  formation  of  the  universal  structure. 


82  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

In  this  way,  therefore,  as  may  be  rationally  supposed, 
originated  all  the  nebulae,  clusters,  stellar  systems,  or  firma 
ments,  which  the  telescope  has  revealed,  together  with  untold 
millions  of  others  of  like  nature,  which  lie  forever  concealed 
from  mortal  vision !  In  other  words,  each  one  of  these 
originated  from  a  fragment  of  the  periphery  of  a  great  wheel 
or  circle  of  nebulous  materials,  surrounding  the  great  Center 
of  all  centers. 

This  hypothesis,  relative  to  the  origin  of  the  stellar  clusters, 
is  not  without  strong  confirmatory  evidence  in  celestial  ap- 
pearances. I  have  suggested  that  the  vivifying  emanations 
from  the  central  sun,  acting  upon  the  angular  masses  of 
nebulous  matter,  would  produce  planes  'of  rarefaction  and 
cleavage  in  various  directions,  from  which  planes  each  result- 
ant insulated  mass,  as  also  each  of  its  subordinate  and  in- 
cluded masses,  would  contract  upon  its  own  center.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  each  general  mass,  with  its  included 
sub-masses,  would  first  be  of  an  angular  form — on  the  same 
principle  on  which  any  cooling  and  contracting  substance 
tends  to  separate  into  angular  masses,  and  as  is  sometimes 
exemplified  in  the  cleavages  of  igneous  rocks.  But,  by  the 
force  of  internal  gravity,  and  the  rotatory  motion  which, 
according  to  principles  before  explained,  would  naturally 
result  therefrom,  these  nebulous  masses  would  all  tend,  as 
they  progressed,  to  assume  the  elliptical  or  spherical  form. 
Now,  this  is  precisely  what  is  observed  in  relation  to  the 
nebulous  and  stellar  masses  of  space.  Some  are  of  exceed- 
ingly irregular  form,  having  long  and  sharp  projections  from 
their  sides,  and  are  of  irregularly  alternating  degrees  of  density 
in  their  centers,  as  though  they  had,  by  variously  intersecting 
forces,  been  subdivided  into  numerous  inferior  compartments. 
Commencing  at  these  extreme  irregularities,  there  are  all 


PROGRESSION     OF     FORMS.  83 

intermediate  degrees  of  symmetry  in  shape,  down  to  the  per- 
fectly globular  shape,  to  which  the  prevailing  forms  of  these 
stellar  masses  manifest  more  or  less  approximation.  Judging 
from  appearances,  therefore,  one  would  say  that  these  masses 
are  evidently  in  all  degrees  of  progression,  between  rudi- 
mental  and  ultimate  forms,  and  that,  in  general,  those  of  the 
most  angular  forms  are  the  least,  while  those  of  the  globular 
form  are  the  most,  progressed.*  This  is  all  manifestly  in 
exact  harmony  with  the  hypothesis  of  nebular  and  angular 
segregation,  and  subsequent  firmamental,  solar,  and  planetary 
conglobation,  which  we  have  proposed. 

Moreover,  these  nebular  or  stellar  masses,  although  they 
appear  in  all  directions  in  the  heavens,  are  said  to  appear,  as 
already  intimated,  in  greatest  abundance  in  the  direction  of  a 
particular  plane,  which  cuts  the  plane  of  our  Milky  Way  at 
right  angles.  In  the  direction,  perpendicular  to  this  plane, 
they  grow  comparatively  thin  (as  do  the  stars  in  the  direction 


*  In  illustration  of  the  progression  from  angularity  and  ellipticity  to  sphericity  in 
these  bodies,  I  may  quote  the  following  from  the  splendid  work  of  Sir  John  Herschel, 
embodying  the  results  of  his  observations  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  With  reference 
to  the  engraved  figures  of  two  particular  nebulae  existing  in  the  southern  heavens,  ho 
says:  "These  figures  exhibit  elliptical  nebulae,  normal  in  their  character — that  is  to 
say,  in  which,  as  the  condensation  increases  toward  the  middle,  the  ellipticity  of  the 
strata  diminishes,  or  in  which  the  interior  and  denser  portions  are  obviously  more 
nearly  spherical  than  the  exterior  and  rarer.  A  great  number  of  such  nebulae,  of  every 
variety  of  ellipticity  and  central  condensation,  are  figured  in  my  northern  catalogue. 
Kegarding  the  spherical  as  only  a  particular  case  of  the  elliptic  form,  and  a  stellar 
nucleus  as  only  the  extreme  stage  of  condensation,  at  least  nine-tenths  of  the  whole 
nebulous  contents  of  the  heavens  will  be  found  to  belong  to  this  class ;  so  that,  as 
regards  a  law  and  a  structure,  the  induction  which  refers  them,  as  a  class,  to  the 
operation  of  similar  causes,  and  assumes  the  prevalence  within  them,  of  similar 
dynamical  conditions,  is  most  full  and  satisfactory.  To  abstain  altogether  from  specu- 
lation as  to  what  may  be  the  nature  of  those  causes  and  conditions,  and  to  refuse  all 
attempts  to  reconcile  the  phenomena  of  so  large  and  so  definite  a  class  of  cosmical 
existences,  with  mechanical  laws,  taken  in  their  most  general  acceptation,  would  be  to 
err  on  the  side  of  excessive  caution  and  philosophical  timidity." — HEBSCHEL'S  Results 
(tt  tiM  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  p.  22. 


LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  Milky  Way),  suggesting  the 
idea  of  a  very  remote  approximation  to  the  horizontal 
boundary  of  the  stratum.  Though  it  is  a  thought  bordering 
on  the  confines  of  the  human  concept! ve  powers,  and  thus 
penetrating  somewhat  into  the  realms  of  uncertainty  and  doubt, 
it  may  still  be  propounded  as  a  query — Whether  the  plane  of 
this  grand  stratum  of  sub-universes,  may  not  indicate  the 
direction  of  the  plane  of  the  great  Ring  of  original  nebulous 
materials,  from  which  these  nebulae  and  stellar  systems  be- 
come segregated  and  resolved  into  their  present  forms,  and 
whether  all  firmamental  creations,  revealed  by  the  telescope, 
may  not  thus  be  included  within  a  comparatively  small 
fraction  of  a  segment  of  one  of  the  great  cosmical  rings  which 
surround  the  Center  of  all  centers  ?  Though  a  question  so 
profound  can  probably  never  be  finally  decided  by  the  human 
intellect,  the  indication  of  this  grand  plane  of  cosmical  for- 
mations, tends,  so  far  as  it  bears  upon  the  subject,  to  confirm 
our  hypothesis,  that  all  visible  neb""1^  ^nd  stellar  systems, 
are  segregations  from  one  general  mass  of  nebulous  matter, 
originally  existing  on  one  general  plane ;  and  the  analogies  of 
all  known  definite  motions  and  formations  in  the  stellar 
spaces,  point  to  the  idea  of  a  circular  or  elliptical  form  as 
characterizing  this  grand  plane  of  creations. 

While  this  theory  gives  definite  form  and  order  to  the  sub- 
ject of  our  contemplations,  it  opens  the  mind  to  the  most 
sublime  conceptions  of  magnitudes  and  distances.  Herschel 
estimated  that  his  great  telescope  would  reveal  the  existence 
of  a  star  so  far  removed  into  space  that  light,  traveling  at 
the  rate  of  twelve  millions  of  miles  in  a  minute,  would  require 
three  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-one  years  to  pass  from 
that  star  to  our  earth.  Such,  therefore,  may  be  supposed  to 
be  the  approximate  distance  of  the  remotest  of  those  luminous 


IMMENSITY     OF     CREATION.  85 

masses  which  were  resolvable  into  stars  by  his  telescope. 
He,  however,  computed  that  his  large  telescope  would  follow 
one  of  those  large  clusters,  as  a  general  mass,  if  plunged  so 
deep  into  space  that  its  light  would  require  three  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  years  to  reach  us ;  and,  it  is  thought  that 
the  great  telescope  of  Lord  Ross  would  pursue  the  same 
object  to  ten  times  that  distance,  or  _a  distance  which  light, 
with  its  inconceivable  velocity  of  motion,  would  consume 
more  than  three  millions  of  years  in  traversing!*  This, 
therefore,  may  be  assumed  as  the  proximate  distance  of  the 
remotest  nebulae  rendered-  visible  by  Lord  Ross's  instrument. 
If,  as  is  probable,  all  stellar  creations,  included  in  a  sphere 
bounded  on  all  sides  by  this  enormous  distance,  constitute 
only  a  small  fraction  of  a  segment  of  one  such  circle  of 
creations  as  we  have  supposed  to  surround  the  great  common. 
Center  of  attraction,  it  would  not  be  advisable  for  the  reader 
to  attempt  to  conceive  of  the  dimensions  even  of  one  of  those 
whole  circles,  much  less  of  the  whole  universe ;  which  latter, 
however,  if  created,  must  be  inferior  to  the  Creator,  and  thus 
finite. 

But,  applying  the  same  general  laws  to  the  creation  of  the 
solar,  and  the  creation  of  the  universal,  system,  it  may  be 
asked,  "  Why  is  it  that  either  the  unitary  agglomeration  repre- 
sented by  single  planets,  or  the  multiplied  segregated  division 
which  we  have  supposed  to  be  represented  by  nebulas  and 
stellar  clusters,  did  not  take  place  uniformly  in  both  systems 
as  the  formation  from  the  materials  of  the  nebulous  rings  ?" 
The  answer,  I  apprehend,  may  be  found  in  the  different  condi- 
tions of  the  rings  in  the  two  systems,  as  involved  in  their 
different  magnitudes.  In  the  great  system  of  systems,  the  dis- 


*  See  Mitchell's  "Planetary  and  Stellar  World,"  p.  23&-T. 

8 


86  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

tance  of  particles  at  any  two  extremes,  must  have  been  so 
great  as  to  prevent  them  from  having  any  appreciable  attrac- 
tion for  each  other.  Some  tendency  to  draw  together  and  form 
a  single  permanent  mass,  indeed  there  must  have  been ;  but 
this  tendency  at  the  more  distant  points  in  the  mass,  must 
have  been  so  small,  and  the  activity  of  particular  districts,  es- 
pecially after  incipient  nucleation,  must  have  been  so  great, 
and  so  rapidly  increasing,  as  to  give  rise  to  subsequent  and 
numerous  mundane  forms  and  systems — the  very  thing  pro- 
posed in  our  theory  of  segregation,  and  confirmed  by  appear- 
ances in  the  heavens. 

But  in  the  solar  system,  the  distance  from  one  extreme  of 
the  annular  formation  to  the  other,  was  comparatively  small ; 
and  besides  this,  we  may  suppose  that  the  varieties  of  matter 
in  so  small  a  mass,  were  less  extreme,  and  that  their  affinities 
were  more  intimate,  than  in  the  universal  mass  previously 
spoken  of.  There  was,  therefore,  not  only  a  possibility,  but  a 
high  degree  of  probability,  that  the  materials  of  each  of  the 
rings  of  nebulous  matter  formed  around  our  sun,  would  assume 
the  form  of  one  mass,  which  would  subsequently  move  in  an 
orbit  whose  plane  and  distance  would  be  coincident  with  the 
previous  ring. 

But,  admitting  the  nebular  hypothesis,  the  multipled  segre- 
gative process  actually  does  seem  to  have  taken  place  in  one 
instance  even  in  our  solar  system,  and  given  rise  to  several 
planetary  bodies  as  the  products  of  one  ring.  It  i-s  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  that  we  refer  to  those  strange  bodies  called 
the  asteroids,  which  revolve  at  almost  equal  distances  from 
the  sun,  between  the  orbits  of  Mars  and  Jupiter,  and  of  which 
there  is  now  known  to  be  fifteen  or  sixteen  in  number.  That 
these  bodies  must  have  originated  from  one  primitive  mass  of 
planetary  matter,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt,  as  such  an 


ASTEROIDS.       SOLAKIZATION.  87 

hypothesis  is  necessary  to  preserve  the  uniformity  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  to  supply  the  vacuity  that  would  otherwise  have 
existed  between  the  orbits  of  Mars  and  Jupiter. 

If,  therefore,  instead  of  being  without  progeny,  and  revolv- 
ing in  solitude  (which  can  only  be  owing  to  their  diminutive- 
ness),  each  asteroid  were  attended  by  a  numerous  family  of 
children  and  grand-children  (or  satellites  and  sub-satellites), 
and  revolved  around  one  of  their  number,  while  performing 
their  general  circuit  around  a  superior  center,  they  would  ex- 
actly illustrate,  on  a  small  scale,  our  idea  of  the  segregated 
stellar  clusters  of  the  universe — each  of  which  latter  may  be 
supposed  to  revolve,  as  one  general  body,  like  the  asteroids,  in 
an  orbit  generally  coinciding  as  to  plane,  and  distance  from  the 
great  and  common  Center,  with  the  plane  and  distance  of  the 
great  ring  of  nebulous  materials  in  which  it  had  its  parentage. 

But  it  should  be  understood,  that  the  fifth  stage  in  the  pro- 
cess of  creation,  considered  merely  as  a  process  of  segregation, 
is  complete  with  the  formation  simply  of  separate  angular 
masses  and  sub-masses,  from  the  general  materials  of  the  neb- 
ulous rings. 

The  sixth  process  in  the  creative  procedure,  is  a  process  of 
solarization,  or  one  by  which  these  previously  segregated  and 
indefinitely  formed  masses  and  their  sub-divisions,  become 
established  suns.  This  process  is  accomplished  by  gravita- 
tions to,  and  emanations  from,  central  points  in  the  segregated 
masses,  on  principles  essentially  the  same  with  those  previ- 
ously explained  as  applying  to  the  formation  of  the  first  great 
central  Body ;  but  in  this  higher  process,  the  operations  may 
be  supposed  to  be  more  refined  and  regular  in  proportion  to 
the  superior  refinement  of  the  elements  and  dynamic  agents 
which  are  involved.  These  suns  assume  specific  distances  and 
orbits  determined  by  the  laws  of  equilibrium,  and  com- 


00  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

mence  their  harmonious  actions  and  reactions  upon  each  other, 
developing  a  sixth  law — the  law  of  universal  cosmical  sympa- 
thy and  reciprocation — corresponding  to  the  nervous  sympathy 
and  reciprocal  action  existing  between  the  different  organs  of 
the  human  body,  the  little  universe. 

The  seventh  and  last  law  and  process  in  this  series  of  uni- 
versal creations,  is  that  by  which  planetary  masses — bodies 
destined  to  become  ultimately  habitable — were  evolved  from 
the  previous  solar  masses.  Of  course  it  is  to  be  supposed 
that  these  bodies  were  produced  from  the  solar  masses  by  evo- 
lutions of  nebulous  rings,  and  by  agglomeration  of  the  materials 
of  these,  according  to  principles  before  explained.  This  de- 
velopment completes  the  fundamental  structure  of  the  material 
universe  as  suck,  and  serves  as  the  Basis  and  material  Germ 
of  all  subsequent  and  more  refined  unfoldings. 

The  different  stages  through  which  the  universal  mass  of 
materials  have  passed,  from  germinal  to  ultimate  forms,  may 
therefore  be  summarily  represented  in  the  following  formula : 


PRIMARY  TRINITY. 

1.  Heat-pervaded  chaos. 

2.  Luminous  attractive  nucleus. 

3.  Electro-interactive  spheroid. 


SECONDARY  TRINITY. 

4.  Concentric  nebulous  rings. 

5.  Segregated  masses(from  rings). 

6.  Suns  and  clusters  of  suns. 


ULTIMATE 
..-.,*_  ,    7.  Habitable  worlds. 

It  is  true  that  we  can  have  no  final  and  absolutely  sensuous 
demonstration  that  such  is  the  structure  of  the. universe,  be- 
cause the  telescope,  with  all  its  magic  powers,  has  probably 
revealed,  as  it  were,  but  an  infinitesimal  fragment  of  the  great 
united  System.  Yet,  considering  that  the  telescope  has  expli- 
citly revealed  that  the  same  laws  of  gravitation  and  revolution- 
ary motion  which  apply  to  our  own  planetary  worlds,  apply 


SUMMARY     OF     EVIDENCES.  89 

also  to  the  most  distant  clusters  of  stars,  thus  binding  all  sys- 
tems and  firmaments  together  in  one  family  relation,  and  re- 
ferring them  to  a  common  parentage — considering,  therefore, 
that  our  own  solar  system  is  of  itself  a  little  universe,  exem- 
plifying all  the  principles  involved  in  the-  great  universe,  of 
\vhich  it  is  a  child  and  antitype — and  considering,  as  we  may 
now  well  do,  that  the  nebular  hypothesis  of  creation  is  the 
correct  one,  and  that  laws  are  uniform  throughout  the  whole 
realm  of  being — the  preponderance  of  analogical  evidence 
must,  we  think,  be  admitted  to  be  in  favor  of  the  general 
truthfulness  of  the  theory  here  propounded.  For,  in  the  first 
place  (admitting  the  nebular  hypothesis),  our  own  sun,  en- 
throned in  the  midst  of  our  system,  affords  an  ocular  proof 
that  matter  in  a  primitively  diffused  state,  and  obeying  the  im- 
pulses breathed  into  it  from  the  Divine  spiritual  source,  will 
assume  a  central,  gravitating,  and  rotating  Nucleus ;  and  this 
hints  &t  the  great  Nucleus,  which,  on  the  same  principles,  seem- 
ingly must  have  necessarily  been  formed  in  the  midst  of  the 
originally  chaotic  materials  of  the  whole  universe.  Moreover, 
the  rings  of  Saturn  show  the  forms  naturally  first  assumed  by 
the  attracted  and  emanated  materials  of  a  central  body,  which 
forms  will  be  of  varying  distances  "from  the  central  body,  ac- 
cording to  their  specific  degrees  of  density  or  levity.  Some 
such  forms  seemingly  must  have  necessarily  been  elaborated, 
not  only  by  our  own  central  sun,  but  by  all  other  suns  of  suf- 
ficient magnitude  and  activity,  and  especially  by  the  great  Sun 
of  all  suns.  But  such  annular  forms,  of  course,  can  be  pre- 
served through  subsequent  condensation,  only  in  case  of  the 
nicest  equilibrium  in  their  materials  and  motions,  such  as  is 
characteristic  of  Saturn's  rings.  If  there  is 'any  considerable 
inequality  in  either  of  these  particulars  the  annular  mass,  in 
contracting,  will  inevitably  resolve  itself  into  the  form  of  one 


90  LAWS     AND     DEVELOPMENTS. 

or  more  bodies,  whose  orbit  of  revolution  will  be  such  as  was 
described  by  the  position  of  the  previous  ring. 

This  consideration  not  only  explains  the  origin  of  the  planets 
satellites,  and  asteroids,  of  our  own  solar  system,  from  the 
materials  of  previous  nebulous  rings,  but  suggests  that  anal- 
ogous singular  and  multiple  conglobations  must,  seemingly  of 
necessity,  have,  in  like  manner,  been  formed  in  the  sidereal 
spaces,  from  the  materials  of  nebulous  rings  surrounding  their 
Respective  centers,  these  all  being  subordinate  to  a  final  and 
common  Center,  as  all  created  things  proceed  from  a  final  and 
common  Cause. 

We  may,  therefore,  say,  that  there  are  many  avenues  open 
toward  the  hypothesis  we  have  propounded  respecting  the 
origin  and  structure  of  the  universe,  and  many  guide-boards 
(or  facts  and  principles),  pointing  along  these  avenues,  all  in  the 
same  direction  ;  while,  if  the  mind  attempts  to  travel  in  a  dif- 
ferent direction,  and  in  quest  of  other  conclusions,  it  not  only 
finds  no  such  guide-boards  to  direct  it,  and  no  such  avenues 
open  for  its  passage,  but  it  is  constantly  obstructed  by  barriers 
of  philosophical  difficulty,  and  each  of  the  steps  of  its  progress 
is  planted  only  on  the  miry  and  treacherous  ground  of  assum-p- 
cion.  While,  therefore,  the  mind  is  ever  held  open  to  the  re- 
eption  of  new  light,  and  a  willingness  is  preserved  to  abandon, 
any  present  errors  for  the  sake  of  subsequently  unfolded 
truths,  it  would  seem  that  we  might,  without  subjecting  our- 
selves to  any  just  charge  of  philosophical  rashness,  settle,  in 
the  present  conviction,  that  the  foregoing  hypothesis,  at  least, 
as  to  its  general  and  most  essential  princioles,  can  not  vary 
much  from  the  truth. 


CHAPTEK   VIII. 

THE    SEVEN    DYNAMIC   AGENTS    OR   POTENTIAL   MEDIA 
OF   NATUEE. 

* 

To  facilitate  a  clear  conception  of  the  relations  of  the  Deity 
to,  and  his  mode  of  acting  upon,  the  universe,  as  well  for 
other  important  uses,  we  will  now  endeavor  to  attain  to 
some  further  conceptions  of  the  dynamic  agents  immediately 
connected  with  the  seven  general  laws,  and  their  correspond- 
ing seven-fold  developments,  considered  in  the  foregoing 
chapter. 

It  was  before  intimated,  on  grounds  which  appear  even  to 
transcend  mere  probability,  that  the  agents  immediately  con- 
cerned in  generating  in  the  universal  chaotic  mass,  the  first 
three  phenomena  of  Expansion,  Contraction,  and  Circulation, 
were  Heat,  Light,  and  Electricity.  By  the  agency  of  these 
three  principles,  we  have  supposed  that  the  mass  was  suc- 
cessively developed  from  a  chaotic,  to  a  nucleated,  and 
spheroidal  form.  Another  and  corresponding  trinity  of  agents 
was  hinted  at,  which  will  now  form  the  subject  of  special  con- 
sideration and  illustration. 

In  unfolding  the  doctrine  of  the  seven-fold  series,  it  was 
shown  that  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  members  of  such  a 
series,  composing  a  Secondary  Trinity,  bear  a  certain  corre- 
spondence, respectively,  to  the  first,  second,  and  third  mem- 
bers, which  compose  a  Primary  Trinity.  Thus,  as  the  Pri- 
mary Trinity  of  conditions  in  the  universal  material  mass, 


92  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

consisted  of  the  chaotic,  the  nucleated,  and  the  spheroidal,  so 
the  Secondary  Trinity  (comprising  nebulous  rings,  segregated 
and  contracting  fragments,  and  developed  solar  forms)  may 
be  characterized  as  secondary  chaos,  secondary  nucleation,  and 
secondary  spheroidation.  This  being  so,  and  the  dynamic 
elements  of  the  first  Trinity  being  Heat,  Light,  and  Elec- 
.tricity  (each  probably  in  a  gross  degree  of  development),  a 
carrying  out  of  identical  principles  will  lead  to  the  supposition 
Jthat  the  dynamic  agents  peculiar  to  the  Secondary  Trinity, 
are  such  as  would  correspond  to  Heat,  Light,  and  Electricity, 
in  a  secondary  degree  of  development,  so  to  speak,  without, 
however,  supposing  that  they  are  absolutely  identical  with 
Heat,  Light,  and  Electricity,  as  these  terms  would  ordinarily 
be  understood.  This,  however,  is  a  mere  deduction  from 
principles  and  correspondences ;  let  us  now  see  if  there  are 
any  substantial  facts  to  support  it. 

Such  facts  are  involved  in  a  series  of  interesting  and  most 
important  discoveries,  made  by  BARON  VON  REICHENBACH,  a 
few  years  ago,  and  of  which  we  will  now  speak  briefly.  The 
course  of  experiments  which  led  this  ingenious  philosopher  to 
the  discoveries  in  question,  was  commenced  by  testing  the 
properties  of  magnets.  By  the  assistance  of  a  number  of 
delicately  organized  persons,  mainly  cataleptic  patients,  in 
whom  the  senses,  especially  sight  and  feeling,  were  in  an  un- 
common degree  of  exaltation,  he  ascertained  that  from  either 
pole  of  an  open  magnet,  there  was  constantly  given  forth  a 
luminous,  flame-like  appearance,  visible  in  a  dark  room,  but 
only  to  such  as  possessed  this  uncommon  acuteness  of  vision. 
The  flames  sent  forth  from  the  poles  of  a  large  horse-shoe 
magnet,  capable  of  supporting  ninety  pounds,  were  described 
as  about  eight  inches  in  mean  length,  mingled  with  irridescent 
colors,  and  gently  nickering  and  waving,  shortening  and 


EXPERIMENTS.  93 

elongating,  and  yielding  when  blown  upon,  and  when  the 
hand  or  any  other  solid  body  was  passed  through  them. 
The  whole  appearance  was  described  as  being  exceedingly 
beautiful. 

This  experiment  was  repeated  with  many  different  observ- 
ers, from  all  of  whom  the  same  general  description  was  ob- 
tained— the  accuracy  of  which  was  further  tested  by  varying 
the  experiments  without  the  knowledge  of  the  observers,  and 
noting  the  corresponding  and  uniform  variations  of  the  ap-. 
pearances  described. 

But,  in  order  to  obtain  still  further  assurance  that  those 
luminous  appearances  described  by  others  were  real,  though 
invisible  to  himself,  the  experimenter,  by  the  aid  of  another 
scientific  gentleman,  instituted  the  following  additional  test : 
A  very  sensitive  daguerreotype  plate  was  prepared  and  placed 
opposite  to  a  large  open  magnet,  in  a  closed  box,  enveloped 
in  thick  bed-clothes,  so  that  not  a  particle  of  ordinary  light 
could  enter  it.  After  the  lapse  of  sixty-four  hours,  the  plate, 
when  exposed  to  mercurial  vapor,  was  found  to  be  distinctly 
affected,  as  by  light.  Another  plate  had  been,  at  the  same 
time,  similarly  prepared,  and  inclosed  in  a  dark  box,  without 
a  magnet,  and  after  a  similar  length  of  time  this  was  found  to 
be  entirely  unaffected. 

The  light  was  also  subjected  to  the  test  of  the  convex  lens, 
and  was  found  to  be  converged  and  thrown  upon  the  wall  in 
the  same  way  as  any  other  light,  but  at  a  considerably  greater 
focal  distance,  wThich  fact  of  itself  proves  that  the  luminous  sub- 
stance was  different  from  ordinary  light. 

By  tests  similar  to  those  w^hich  were  employed  with  the 
magnet,  it  wras  subsequently  ascertained,  with  equal  certainty, 
that  similar  lights  were  also  emitted  from  crystals.  The  flames 
issuing  from  the  points  of  large  crystals  were  described  by 


94:  DYNAMIC      AGENTS. 

those  who  could  see  them,  as  being  somewhat  in  the  shape  of 
a  tulip,  and  singularly  beautiful.  One  young  lady  used,  when 
ill,  to  lie  awake  nights  enjoying  the  sight  of  the  beautiful  flame 
emitted  from  a  large  rock  crystal  which  had  been  left  in  her 
room.  But  bodies  confusedly  crystalline  exhibited  but  little  of 
this  phenomenon,  and  bodies  entirely  amorphous  exhibited 
none,  but  nevertheless  gave  forth,  in  common  with  crystals, 
magnets,  and  other  things,  a  still  more  subtle  influence,  which 
will  hereafter  be  described. 

Our  experimenter  subsequently  introduced  other  tests  with 
the  view  of  ascertaining  to  what  extent  this  newly-discovered 
force  prevailed  in  nature.  He  extended  the  end  of  a  wire 
through  the  keyhole  of  the  door  of  a  perfectly  darkened  room, 
in  which  he  placed  a  person  whose  senses  were  sufficiently 
acute  to  detect  any  luminous  or  other  phenomena  which  might 
present  itself  as  the  result  of  any  experiment.  The  other 
end  of  the  wire  he  attached  to  a  metallic  plate,  which,  without 
letting  the  observer  placed  in  the  room  know  what  he  was 
doing,  he  would  push  out  into  the  rays  of  the  sun,  or  of  the 
moon,  or  of  the  planets,  or  fixed  stars ;  or  would  place  an 
animal,  a  plant,  or  his  own  hands,  upon  its  surface ;  or  would 
subject  it  to  chemical  action,  or  the  action  of  heat,  cold,  or 
electricity.  He  found  the  results  of  all  these  experiments 
nearly  uniform  in  one  particular,  viz.,  in  respect  to  the  emis- 
sion of  a  narrow  tuft  of  light  several  inches  in  length,  from 
the  end  of  the  wire,  which  would  begin  to  be  visible  soon 
after  the  agent  experimented  upon  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  plate.  Indeed,  whatever  possessed  in  itself  the  least  mo- 
lecular  force  or  action,  was  found  to  be  capable  of  evolving  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  this  luminosity. 

Other  processes  gave  an  analysis  of  these  lights,  and  showed 
remarkable  relations  in  their  constituents,  to  different  points 


S  E  V  E  N  -  F  O  L  D     LUMINOSITY.  95 

in  the  terrestrial  and  celestial  spheres.  It  was  found,  for  example, 
that  the  flames  from  the  poles  of  a  large  electro-magnet  (which 
were  much  larger  and  brighter  than  those  emitted  from  the 
permanent  steel  magnet)  would,  after  the  galvanic  circuit  was 
completed,  slowly  and  gradually  resolve  themselves  into  dis- 
tinct stratifications  of  color,  presenting,  in  fact,  the  seven-fold 
luminosity  of  the  rainbow,  with  the  red  below  and  the  violet 
above.  These  colors,  again,  were  found  to  vary  with  the 
varying  distances  at  which  they  were  viewed — the  whole  of 
the  appearances,  when  taken  together,  showing  that  each  one 
of  the  differently  colored  radiations  terminated,  for  the  most 
part,  at  a  certain  distance  from  the  common  center  of  lumin- 
osity. This  distance,  though  Reichenbach  did  not  remark  it, 
was  probably  nearly  the  same  all  around;  the  differently 
colored  rays  thus  forming  a  system  of  concentric  spheres  of 
light. 

Guarding  against  errors  which  might  arise  from  variations 
in  these  colors  as  resulting  from  the  varying  distances  at  which 
they  were  viewed,  our  philosopher  was  now  prepared  for 
another  interesting  step.  Having  previously  found  that  a  mag- 
netic bar,  with  poles  in  the  direction  of  the  dip,  always  emitted 
different  colors  from  those  it  gave  in  the  meridian,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  ascertain  what  effect  other  positions  of  Jhe  pole 
would  have  upon  the  character  of  the  luminosity.  For  this 
purpose  he  caused  a  magnetic  bar  to  revolve  lengthwise,  first 
in  a  vertical  circle  in  the  direction  of  the  magnetic  meridian, 
then  in  a  vertical  circle  in  a  direction  east  and  west,  and  lastly, 
in  a  horizontal  circle.  He  found  that  in  each  case  different 
colors  were  evolved  according  as  the  magnet  was  pointed  in 
different  directions,  and  that  as  it  passed,  in  each  case,  through 
a  complete  circle,  it  evolved,  in  regular  succession,  all  the  colors 
of  the  rainbow  ! 


96  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

By  subsequent  electro-magnetic  experiments  with  an  arti- 
ficial globe  called  the  terrelle,  Reichenbach  succeeded  in  pre- 
cisely reproducing  the  appearances  of  the  aurora  borealis,  and 
may  be  considered  as  having  probably  afforded  a  complete 
solution  of  that  interesting  phenomenon. 

We  find  in  these  remarkable  facts  a  complete  verification  of 
our  previous  hypothesis,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  an  essence 
which  may  be  called  secondary  light.  While  this  light  is,  in 
some  particulars,  similar  to  ordinary  light,  it  differs  from  it 
totally  in  others,  as  the  foregoing  description  renders  obvious ; 
and  it  therefore  may  be  judged  to  belong  to  a  somewhat  differ- 
ent degree  of  natural  developments.  Considering  this,  there- 
fore, as  one  of  the  members  of  our  supposed  Secondary  Trinity 
of  imponderables,  we  shall  now  see  that  our  hypothesis,  so  far 
as  it  relates  to  the  other  two  members,  is  not  without  the  sup- 
port of  similar  facts. 

When  a  horseshoe  magnet  was  closed  by  an  armature,  all 
appearances  of  a  luminous  flame  would  immediately  cease, 
but  would  be  instantly  reproduced  on  the  removal  of  the 
armature.  This  establishes  the  probability  that  the  same  force 
which  in  the  open  magnet  generates  the  luminosity,  is,  by  the 
application  of  the  armature,  simply  rendered  latent,  so  far  as  its 
flame-generating  power  is  concerned,  but  that  it  nevertheless 
still  exists  in  the  closed  magnet,  and  acts  as  an  internal  prin- 
ciple, or  as  a  principle  corresponding  to  fire  or  heat.  This 
view  is  further  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  one  of  Rsichenbach's 
subjects  saw  even  closed  magnets,  and,  indeed,  metals  of  all 
kinds,  luminous  in  the  dark,  as  though  they  had  been  heated 
to  incandesence — without,  however,  giving  forth  any  flame-like 
scintillations.  Such,  then,  are  the  evidences  of  a  Secondary 
Heat. 

But  still  more  conclusive  indications  were  obtained  of  an 


EFFECTS     OF     MAGNETS.  97 

electroid,  or  electricity-like  agent,  as  connected  with  the  identi- 
cal sources  of  these  other  phenomena.  It  was  found  that 
magnets,  crystals,  or  whatever  afforded  the  phenomena  of  this 
attenuated  light,  together  with  many  things  which  did  not, 
also  emitted  an  influence  or  aura  which  was  capable  of  acting 
decidedly  upon  the  nerves  of  a  certain  proportion  of  persons. 
This  aura  was  described  as  warm  or  cold,  according  as  it  was 
received  from  either  pole  of  the  magnet  or  crystal,  or  accord- 
ing to  the  positive  or  negative  quality  of  any  other  source 
from  which  it  was  obtained.  It  was  found  capable  of  acting 
at  a  distance,  and  of  being  transmitted  through  conducting 
media,  and  of  sometimes  acting  so  powerfully  upon  the  sensi- 
tive as  to  produce  catalepsy  and  dangerous  spasms.  Thus,  at 
one  time,  during  the  illness  of  one  of  Reichenbach's  employees^ 
he  held  a  large  magnet,  capable  of  supporting  ninety  pounds, 
at  the  distance  of  six  paces  from  her  feet,  as  she  lay  on  her 
bed,  with  her  physician  by  her  side.  While  the  armature 
was  attached  to  the  magnet  she  felt  no  peculiar  sensation,  but 
the  instant  it  Avas  removed  she  fell  into  tetanic  spasms  and 
complete  unconsciousness  from  its  action.  The  armature 
being  again  attached,  the  girl  slowly  recovered  her  senses, 
and  her  physician  advised  that  the  experiment  should  not  be 
repeated.  Another  lady,  subject  to  attacks  of  catalepsy, 
could  instantly  detect  the  approach  of  an  open  magnet, 
though  the  latter  was  brought,  without  her  knowledge  of  the 
intention,  near  the  head  of  her  bed,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  wall. 

Magnets,  crystals,  etc.,  were  also  found  to  powerfully  at- 
tract the  hands  of  cataleptic  patients,  even  during  the  un- 
consciousness of  their  fits. 

It  was  also  ascertained  that  amorphous  bodies,  in  common 
with  others,  sent  forth  this  ethereal  influence,  though,  as  before 

9 


98  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

shown,  they  gave  forth  no  light.  And  here  it  was  more  fully 
ascertained,  that  the  ethereal  emanations  from  different  sub- 
stances^ were  specifically  different  as  to  their  effects  upon  the 
human  nerve,  thus  affording  indications  of  the  distinctive 
characters  of  the  emanating  sources.  One  peculiarity  of 
amorphous  (that  is  to  say,  uncrystallized  and  unorganized) 
bodies  was,  that  their  exhalations  gave  a  nauseous,  accompa- 
nied by  either  a  cold  or  warm,  and  sometimes  also  a  prickly, 
sensation,  to  persons  whose  nerves  were  in  a  sufficiently 
sensitive  state  to  test  them ;  and  some  bodies  imparted  these 
sensations  in  a  greater  degree  than  others.  In  the  investi- 
gation of  this  point,  Reichenbach  took  the  trouble  to  try  more 
than  six  hundred  bodies  with  reference  to  their  nauseating 
force.  The  young  lady  through  whose  aid  the  tests  were 
made,  could  easily  give  to  every  substance  its  proper  place  in 
the  scale  of  force,  and  this  she  could  repeat,  without  failure, 
after  intervals  of  several  days.  "  It  soon  appeared,"  says  our 
philosopher,  "  that  these  bodies  arranged  themselves  accord- 
ing to  their  electro-chemical  value,  and,  indeed,  in  suchwise 
that  the  highly  electric  stood  at  the  top,  and  the  indifferently 
so  at  the  bottom  of  the  scale,  without  regard  to  their  polar 
opposition." 

When  the  same  substances  'were  tried  on  this  same  young 
lady  while  in  a  state  of  catalepsy,  "the  results  were  the  same 
in  kind,  but  in  degree  much  stronger.  The  substances  at  the 
top  of  the  scale,  laid  in  her  hand,  caused  violent  spasms, 
whereby  they  were  thrown  at  a  distance,  and  her  hand  then, 
as  usual  in  catalepsy,  retained  the  new  position.  .  .  It  was 
soon  observed  that  many  substances  began  to  act  before  they 
touched  the  hand,  and  it  was  enough  to  place  them  near  it." 

These  experiments  were  repeated,  not  only  with  other 
nervous  patients,  but  with  several  gentlemen  in  a  state  of  per- 


EMANATIONS     FKOM     MEDICINES.  99 

feet  health,  with  results  differing  from  the  abova  no  more 
than  what  might  easily  be  accounted  for  by  the  different  de- 
grees of  susceptibility  in  the  experimenters.  The  different 
substances  tried  are  enumerated  by  Reichenbach  according  to 
their  specific  effects,  but  it  will  here  be  sufficient  to  say  that 
sulphur  was  found  to  be  the  general  representative  of  those 
which,  without  contact,  gave  the  sensation  of  cold,  and  gold 
of  those  which  gave  warmth ;  and  almost  every  one  whose 
hand  was  made  to  pass  over  small  plates,  coated  respectively 
with  these  substances,  felt,  in  some  degree,  these  correspond- 
ing sensations,  and  some  felt  them  quite  vividly. 

Without  any  knowledge  of  Eeichenbach's  investigations, 
Dr.  G.  R.  Buchanan,  of  Cincinnati,  was  engaged,  about  the 
same  time,  in  a  similar  course  of  experiments  with  amorphous 
bodies,  and  developed  results  similar  in-character,  but  in  some 
respects  even  still  more  decisive.  Without  here  entering  into 
the  details  of  his  experiments  or  inquiries,  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  state  that  they  resulted  in  establishing  the  fact,  that 
medicines,  holden  in  the  hand  of  the  patient,  even  when 
wrapped  up  in  paper  and  concealed  from  view  so  as  to  guard 
against  the  effects  of  imagination,  will,  in  a  large  proportion  of 
cases,  have  all  the  effects  that  the  same  medicines  will  have, 
taken  internally.  Out  of  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
medical  students  belonging  to  a  class  which  attended  the 
lectures  of  Dr.  Buchanan,  forty-three  declared  themselves 
fully  affected  by  this  experiment,  to  which  they  had  been  sub- 
jected during  the  delivery  of  one  lecture.* 

Similar  phenomena  have  been  observed  as  the  results  of 
similar  experiments  in  other  instances,  but  we  have  no  room 
for  further  details  on  this  branch  of  our  subject.  In  all  such 

*  See  "Buchanan's  Journal  of  Man"  for  February,  1819,  Art  1. 


100  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

cases  the  action  of  the  medicines  is  doubtless  due  to  an  ab-         t 
sorption  of  their  subtle  and  characteristic  emanations,  through 
the  pores  of  the  skin,  whence  they  are  diffused  through  the 
nervous  medium  of  the  system,  acting  upon  the  vital  forces 
which  control  all  the  functions  of  the  physical  organism. 

By  experiments  which  placed  deception  out  of  the  question, 
it  was  found  that  these  ethereal  influences  of  different  sub- 
stances, could  be  conducted  through  wires  to  a  distance  of 
from  three  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  feet,  so  as  to  be  dis- 
tinctly perceived  by  the  more  sensitive  of  Reichenbach's  ex- 
perimenters. 

But  a  fact  still  more  important  in  its  bearings  was,  that  differ- 
ent bodies  placed  in  contact  with,  or  in  close  proximity  to,  each 
other,  would  mutually  impart  their  influences  to  each  other,  so 
as  to  modify  or  totally  change  the  effects  which  they  would 
otherwise  produce  upon  sensitive  patients.  In  other  words, 
and  to  use  a  figure  of  speech  that  will  be  perfectly  understood, 
they  would  mutually  magnetize,  or  mesmerize,  each  other — 
would  enter  into  a  sort  of  rapport  or  reciprocal  sympathy,  by 
an  interdiffusion  of  their  spheres  or  ethereal  emanations.  Thus 
it  was  found  that  sulphur,  which  of  itself  would  impart  a  cold 
and  prickling  sensation  to  impressible  persons,  even  at  a  dis- 
tance of  several  feet,  and  without  a  conducting  wire,  would,  by 
contact  or  close  proximity  to  other  substances,  empower 
them,  for  a  time,  to  give  forth  a  similar  influence,  even  though 
their  own  proper  influences  might  be  of  an  opposite,  though 
less  powerful,  character ;  and  so  of  other  substances,  and  their 
modifying  influences  upon  others.*  -  j^----- 

The  general  reliability  of  the  foregoing  and  other  alleged 

*  For  further  details  of  these  interesting  experiments  and  their  results,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  Reichenbach's  "  Physico-Physiological  Researches  on  the  Dynamics  of  Mag- 
netism," etc.,  New  York.  J.  S.  Redfleld. 


COMPLEXITY     OF     THE     FORCE.  101 

results  as  obtained  by  Reichenbach,  will  not  be  disputed  by 
those  who  know  the  character  of  the  experimenter,  or  wrho, 
from  a  careful  perusal  of  his  report,  have  noted  his  exceedingly 
cautious  mode  of  proceeding.  Reichenbach  is  known  through 
out  Europe  as  a  chemist  second  only  to  Liebig  himself,  and, 
speaking  of  this  same  course  of  investigation,  Professor 
Gregory  declares  that  "  it  was  not  possible  for  any  experi- 
ments or  discoveries  to  be  presented  to  the  scientific  world  by 
one  more  entitled  to  confidence  in  every  point  of  view."  Be- 
sides this,  his  more  important  experiments  have  been  repeated 
by  others,  and  their  results  verified,  in  many  instances,  both 
in  this  country  and  in  Europe. 

Availing  himself  of  the  plasticity  of  the  German  language, 
Reichenbach  designates  the  new  force  (rather  forces)  which  he 
discovered,  by  the  German  suffix  "00?,"  and  indicates  the 
sources  whence  this  force  is  obtained,  by  their  names  prefixed 
to  that  syllable,  as  "magnetod,"  "  crystalled,"  "  thermod," 
"  photod,"  etc.,  as  respectively  indicating  a  connection  of  the 
force  with  magnets,  crystals,  heat,  light,  etc.  In  the  English 
language,  therefore,  this  new  imponderable  has  been  rather 
clumsily  designated  as  the  "  odic  force,"  or  "  odylic  force." 

But  the  various  phenomena  exhibited  by  this  so-called  force, 
show  that  it  is  not  simple  but  complex,  or  rather  that  it  in- 
volves a  number  of  distinct  forces.  Its  rudimental  existence 
in  the  closed  magnet,  as  also  in  various  unmagnetic  bodies, 
was  not  only  intimated  by  the  luminous  and  incandescent  ap- 
pearance of  the  bodies  of  metals,  before  spoken  of,  but  is  also 
implied  as  an  antecedent  of  the  luminous,  flame-like  appear- 
ance which  it  engenders  at  a  further  stage  of  development — 
just  as  the  existence  of  common  caloric  is  implied  as  an  ante- 
cedent of  common  flame.  The  light  itself  is  a  second  devel- 
opment ;  and  the  ethereal  aura  which,  without  any  luminous 


102  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

phenomena,  acts  upon  the  human  nerve,  is  a  third.  The  three, 
therefore,  may  be  variously  characterized  as  "  odic  heat," 
"  odic  light,"  and  "  odic  electricity,"  or  "  odic  ether ;"  and  here 
we  have  our  previously  conjectured  Secondary  Trinity  of 
dynamic  agents,  corresponding  to  the  Primary  Trinity,  which 
consists  of  Heat,  Light,  and  Electricity,  as  these  terms  are 
ordinarily  understood. 

In  the  same  way  in  which  the  Primary  Trinity  of  dynamic 
agents  is*  concerned  in  the  Primary  Trinity  of  each  system  of 
physical  developments,  the  Secondary  and  corres2^onding  Trin- 
ity (in  connection  with  the  Primary,  which  is  still  and  always 
in  force)  is  concerned  in  each  secondary  and  corresponding 
Trinity  of  developments,  with  their  peculiarities.* 

Thus  the  principle  which  we  have  called  "  Odic  Heat,"  may 
be  considered  as  the  internal  love-principle  by  which  particles 
associate  in  organic  forms,  and  therefore  is  the  fundamental 
dynamic  principle  connected  with  the  fourth  law — the  law  of 
Aggregation  or  Organization,  whether  relating  to  the  universe 
as  a  whole,  or  to  any  of  its  definitely  constituted  parts. 

The  "  odic  light"  appears  to  be  expressive  of  the  ethereally 
aspirative  operations  of  the  organic  structure  from  "which  it 
proceeds.  It  was  before  mentioned  that  this  light  consisted 
of  the  seven  different  colors  of  the  iris,  which  seemed  to  sur- 
round the  center  of  luminosity  as  so  many  concentric  spheres 
of  light ;  and  that  when  Reichenbach  caused  a  magnetic  bar 
to  revolve  lengthwise  on  horizontal  and  vertical  planes,  the 
light  exhibited  successively  all  the  different  colors  of  the  rain- 
bow, as  the  magnet  was  pointed  in  the  different  directions  in 
respect  to  the  earth  and  heavens,  which  lay  in  the  plane  of  the 

*  It  is  not  claimed  that  these  dynamic  principles  apply  identically  to  each  and 
every  seven-fold  system  of  developments,  as  to  some  systems  they  apply  only  by  their 
natural  representatives,  analogues,  or  correspondents. 


POLARITY,      AFFINITIES,      ETC.  103 

circle.  I  can  not  but  regard  these  results  as  exceedingly  inter- 
esting and  important,  as  showing  the  relative  degrees  and 
states  of  polarity  of  particular  points  and  directions  of  the 
earth's  surface,  and  of  the  surrounding  and  celestial  spaces — 
thus,  as  suggesting  the  different  qualities  or  states  of  the  ma- 
terials of  which  the  earth  and  all  correlative  creations  are 
composed — thus,  as  suggesting  the  correlative  affinities  and 
forces  by  which  these  materials  became  associated  in  their 
present  structural  form — and  finally,  as  suggesting  something 
of  the  perpetually  repeated  round  of  changing  influences  and 
ethereal  forces  through  which  (in  analogy  to  the  revolving 
magnet)  the  earth  and  all  celestial  bodies  pass  in  performing 
their  rotary  and  orbitual  revolutions.  If  there  is  any  validity 
in  these  suggestions,  then  these  degrees  of  polarity,  states  and 
affinities  of  matter,  changing  ethereal  forces,  etc.,  all  exemplify 
the  seven-fold  series  as  corresponding  to  the  seven  colors  of  the 
iris,  which,  in  the  experiment  referred  to,  were  successively 
given  forth  by  the  revolving  magnet.  And,  applying  these 
remarks  (as  analogy  would  justify  us  in  doing)  to  all  mundane 
organizations — to  the  solar  system,  the  sidereal  systems,  and 
to  the  whole  universe  as  one  Body — as  well  as  to  the  earth, 
we  have  in  the  "  odic  light"  a  universal  dynamic  correlative 
of  the  fifth  law — the  law  of  segregation,  or  the  law  by  which 
unity  is  divided  into  parts  of  different  and  connected  grada- 
tions. 

Concerning  the  third  member  of  this  trinity  of  agents — the 
"  odic,"  electroid,  or  ethereal  emanation  which  was  found  to 
produce  such  marked  and  singular  effects  on  the  sensitive  hu- 
man nerve,  the  following  remarks  may  be  submitted : 

1.  All  things  subjected  to  careful  experiment,  whether  in 
the  animal,  vegetable,  or  mineral  Kingdoms,  or  in  the 
celestial  spaces,  were  found  to  send  forth  this  subtile  eman- 


104:  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

ation,  which  in  each  case  may  be  called  the  sphere,  or 
•ethereal  atmosphere,  of  the  substance  or  form  from  which  it 
proceeds.  It  may .  therefore  be  presumed,  on  analogical 
grounds,  that  things  also  not  available  for  experiment,  and 
that,  indeed,  absolutely  all  things,  from  atoms  to  worlds  and 
systems,  and  even  the  whole  universe,  considered  as  a  tlnit, 
are  in  like  manner  characterized  by  a  surrounding  and  per- 
vading ethereal  sphere.* 

2.  The  emanating  spheres  of  smaller  bodies  associated  with 
larger  ones,  must  necessarily  be  included  in  the  emanating 
spheres  of  the  larger  bodies  on  which  they  rest  or  depend. 
The  sphere  of  a  single  particle  of  mineral  matter,  for  example, 
is  comprehended  and  encircled  in  the  general  sphere  of  the 
whole  crystal  of  which  it  forms  a  part;  and  the  same  remark 
applies  to  particles  and  organisms  in  other  kingdoms  in 
nature.  The  spheres  of  all  minerals,  vegetables,  animals, 
etc.,  separately  and  collectively,  are  involved  and  compre- 
hended in  the  general  sphere  of  the  earth ;  the  sphere  of  the 
earth,  together  with  the  spheres  of  all  other  planets,  with 
the  satellites  and  comets,  is  involved  and  comprehended  in 
the  general  sphere  of  the  whole  solar  system ;  that  sphere  is 
comprehended  in  the  general  sphere  of  the  great  stellar  vortex 
in  which,  accompanied  by  myriads  of  like  systems,  it  moves ; 
and  that  sphere  is  comprehended  in  the  general  sphere  of  the 
whole  Universe ;  and  that  sphere  is,  in  like  manner,  enveloped 
in,  and  pervaded  by,  the  great  sphere  of  the  infinite  Divine 
Being,  which  is  the  Essence  of  all  essences,  the  Force  of  all 
forces,  and  the  Vitalizer  of  all  vitalities !  Here,  then,  is  a 


*  This  doctrine  of  "  spheres  "  was  taught  by  Swedenborg,  and  by  others  since  his 
day.  It  may  almost  be  said  that  it  has  a  sufficient  foundation  in  the  developed  intu- 
itions of  the  human  mind,  and  it  would  stand  even  independent  of  Keichenbach'a 
most  conclusive  scientific  verifications. 


DOCTRINE     OF     SPHERES.  105 

progressive  gradation  from  the  smallest  to  the  greatest,  from 
the  infinitesimal  to  the  Infinite,  from  the  atom  of  matter  to 
the  incomprehensible  fullness  of  a  Divine  Spiritual  Being. 

3.  The  spheres  of  all  bodies  in  the  universe,  from  smallest 
to  greatest,  while  they  are  generically  similar,  are  specifically 
different,  and  the  sphere  of  each  body  corresponds  to  that 
body's  internal  character.     This  is  a  conclusion  which,  as  re- 
garded merely  by  the  reasoning  powers,  is  necessitated,  by  the 
obvious  differences  in  the  intrinsic  nature  of  things,  and  it  is 
confirmed  by  the  differences  in  the  effects  produced  by  the 
ethereal  emanations  of  medicines  and  other  substances,  and 
even  by  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  by  different  districts  of  the 
celestial  hemisphere  which  were  subjected  to  tests. 

4.  As  it  was  proved  that  the  spheres  of  sulphur,  gold, 
medicines,  etc.,  acted  and  reacted  upon,  and  mutually  modi- 
fied, each  other,  and  this,  too,  when  the  solid  bodies  were  a 
distance  apart ;  so,  carrying  out  this  principle,  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed that  the  spheres  of  all  bodies,  terrestrial  and  celestial, 
from  smallest  to  greatest,  from  atoms  to  worlds,  stellar  sys- 
tems, and  the  whole  universe,  in  like  manner,  act  and  react 
upon,  and  modify  each  other,  according  to  their  relative  degrees 
of  magnitude  and  power.     And  this  mutual  interdiffusion  of 
spheres,  and  their  harmonious  and  reciprocal  action  and  re- 
action upon  each  other,  while  each  particular  form  and  system 
preserves  its  own  identity,  constitute  an  important  part  of  the 
physiological  and  functional  operations  of  the  great  Anatomical 
Structure  of  Creation,  and  which,  as  before  intimated,  corre- 
sponds, in  principle,   to  a  single  human  body.     The   great 
ethereal  Sphere  of  all  spheres   may  be  considered  as  the 
sympathetic  nerve-essence  of  this  Anatomical  Structure,  viewed 
as  a  whole,  while  the  sphere  of  each  sun,  world,  and  atom, 
may  be  considered  as  its  own  particular  nerve-essence ;  and  it^ 


106  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

is  through  these  nerve-essences  that  each  part  of  the  whole 
Body  sympathises  with  all  other  parts,  and  that  the  equili- 
brium and  harmonious  functional  operations  of  the  whole  sys- 
tem are  preserved. 

This  subtile  and  variously  qualified  electroid  or  magnetoid 
element,  therefore,  being  the  sixth  in  the  seven-fold  series  of 
dynamic  agents,  is  intimately  allied  to  the  sixth  general  law, 
which  we  have  seen  is  a  law  of  hannonial  and  sympathetic 
reciprocation. 

It  is  true  that  the  discoverer  of  these  previously  unknown 
subtile  agencies  did  not  exhibit,  and  perhaps  did  not,  to 
any  extent,  perceive  their  cosmological  bearings,  especially 
as  these  are  attempted  to  be  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  re- 
marks. His  main  object  appears  to  have  been  to  develop 
facts,  leaving  the  more  comprehensive  conclusions  to  which 
these  might  naturally  conduce,  to  be  unfolded  by  subsequent 
investigations,  and  by  others  as  well  as  by  himself;  and  as 
his  facts,  by  their  publication,  and  their  verification  by  the 
parallel  experiments  of  others,  have  become  the  property  of 
the  world,  any  one  may  elaborate  and  synthetize  them  who 
has  the  inclination  and  mental  qualifications  to  do  so. 

In  respect  to  this  "  odic,"  or  magnetoid  element,  which  per- 
vades and  emanates  from  greatest  and  smallest  things,  the 
following  additional  and  important  remarks"  may  be  sub- 
mitted: As  this  influence,  proceeding  from  various  bodies, 
near  and  remote,  was  found  to  have  such  remarkable  effects 
upon  the  sensitive  human  nerve,  it  may  be  considered  as 
being  closely  allied,  in  its  general  nature,  to  the  nervous  in- 
fluence pervading  the  human  body,  and  emanating  from  it  as 
an  "  odic  "  sphere.  Indeed,  Reichenbach  actually  proved  its 
identity,  in  the  general  sense,  with  the  medium  through  which 
*•  one  human  being  produces  those  effects  upon  another,  com- 


MODE     OF     DIVINE     ACTION.  107 

monly  known  as  "  magnetic  "  or  "  mesmeric ;"  and  the  world 
is  indebted  to  that  philosopher  for  physical  demonstrations  in 
this  department,  which  place  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
Animal  Magnetism  beyond  all  possible  doubt. 

Now,  operations  called  "magnetic"  as  performed  by  one 
human  being  upon  another,  are  known  to  depend  greatly,  for 
their  character  and  efficiency,  upon  the  exercise  of  the  will. 
If,  therefore,  the  medium  through  which  such  magnetic  oper- 
ations are  performed,  is  generically  the  same  with  the  "  odic" 
spheres  given  forth  by  all  bodies  in  nature,  do  we  not  find  in 
this  "  odic  "  element  the  general  connecting  link  between  mind 
and  matter?  If,  upon  the  basis  of  this  certainly  plausible 
idea,  we  should  suggest  that  this  everywhere  present  "  odic  " 
element,  as  associated  with  the  different  bodies  in  nature,  and 
with  nature  as  a  Whole,  may  hereafter  prove  to  be  a  medium 
through  which  mind  can,  in  certain  conditions,  and  to  a  certain 
extent,  act  upon  and  move  outer  tangible  matter,  without  the 
contact  of  the  physical  organs,  the  suggestion  would  doubtless 
be  met  with  general  incredulity,  especially  by  those  who  are 
not  familiar  with  certain  strange  phenomena  of  our  day.  It 
could  not  be  esteemed  more  incredible,  however,  than  would 
have  been  an  assertion  made  fifty  years  ago,  that  by  a 
peculiar  mechanical  contrivance,  a  certain  subtile  agent  in 
nature  might  be  efficiently  employed  in  the  accurate  and 
instantaneous  transmission  of  thought  to  the  distance  of  a 
thousand  miles!  But  not  to  press  these  thoughts  for  the 
present,  if  our  foregoing  generalizations  are  correct,  then  we 
hazard  little  in  saying,  that  as  the  all-pervading  "odic" 
sphere  of  the  universe,  as  a  whole,  in  its  ultimate  degree,  con- 
nects with  the  sphere  of  the  Deity,  so  the  Deity,  through  this 
medium,  acts  upon  the  universe,  in  the  same  way  as  any  two. 
juxtaposed  substances  or  forms  in  nature  act  upon  each  other 


108  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

through  their  "  odic "  spheres,  and  as  was  illustrated  by  ex- 
periments before  related.  And  as  the  Deity,  moreover,  is  a 
personal  and  intelligent  Being,  he  may  through  this  medium 
act,  not  only  spontaneously,  but  volitionally  and  directly,  upon 
the  universe,  or  upon  either  of  its  corresponding  sub-creations, 
and  control  it  to  any  extent  which  may  comport  with  the 
integrity  of  his  general  plan. 

But  we  come  now  to  another  point :  As  each  previous  stage 
of  creation,  with  its  peculiar  law  of  developments,  from  the 
first  to  the  sixth,  was  thus  accompanied  with,  or  related  to,  a 
corresponding  dynamic  agent,  the  same  fact  may  be  supposed 
to  hold  with  reference  to  the  seventh  stage,  which,  in  the  cos- 
mical  creation,  as  before  shown,  consisted  in  the  development 
of  habitable  worlcls.  And  as  this  is  the  final  development  of 
the  seven-fold  cosmical  series— and  brings  the  physical  struc- 
ture of  the  universe  as  such,  to  a  completeness — so  we  may 
suppose  that  the  dynamic  principle  related  to  this  develop- 
ment, is  also  the  ultimate  and  completion  of  its  series.  And 
being  the  last  of  a  series  in  which  there  is  observed  a  progres- 
sive refinement  from  the  first,  at  least  to  the  sixth,  it  may  be 
supposed  to  unite  in  itself  the  principles  of  all  the  others  in  a 
still  superior  degree  of  refinement. 

But  we  have  seen  that  the  series  of  universal  cosmical  de- 
velopments included  in  what  we  have  called  the  great  King- 
dom of  Materiality,  must  have  been  based  upon,  and  have 
sprung  from,  an  antecedent,  unoriginated,  and  infinite  Kingdom 
of  Spirituality,  which  we  call  GOD.  If  this  same  Principle, 
like  the  vital  elements  of  the  germ  of  a  tree,  lies  at  the  basis, 
and  is  reproduced  at  the  completion,  of  the  unfolding,  then 
this  seventh  dynamic  principle,  concerning  which  we  are  now 
inquiring,  can  be  nothing  less  than  a  degree  of  the  seven-fold 
elements  of  the  originally  generative  Divine  Spirit,  now  em- 


DIVINE     EMBODIMENT.  109 

bodied  in  cosmical  investiture.  Viewed  in  this  light,  this 
seventh  dynamic  principle  may  be  called  Soul  or  Vitality — the 
Soul  or  vital  Principle  of  the  cosmical  universe,  or  the  Princi- 
ple by  which  it,  as  a  universe,  lives  and  performs  all  its  normal 
movements  ! 

Let  me  not,  however,  be  understood  as  intimating  that  the 
all  of  God  was  thus  embodied  in  the  universal  cosmical  struc- 
ture. Neither  the  imiverse  of  material  worlds,  nor  of  heavens, 
nor  the  heaven  of  heavens,  can  contain  HIM  who  is  absolutely 
INFINITE,  and  it  must  have  been,  comparatively  speaking,  an 
exceedingly  small  ray  from  his  interior  and  ineffable  effulgence 
that  sufficed  to  give  birth  to,  and  move  and  regulate,  the  ma- 
terial structure  which  we  have  been  contemplating,  however 
sublime  and  inconceivable  to  human  intellect 'this  maybe. 
Nor  was  the  Divine  embodiment  of  which  we  speak,  neces- 
sarily an  embodiment  which,  in  its  immediate  exterior  mani- 
festation, would  take  the  form  of  what  is  generally  understood 
by  intelligence;  though  intelligence,  as  an  attribute  of  a  much 
higher  and  more  interior  degree  of  the  Divine  Spiritual  Con- 
stitution, was  the  projecting,  planning,  and  (acting  through  the 
ultimately  refined  "  odic"  spheres,  or  quasi  nerve-essences  of 
his  creations,  before  spoken  of)  is  the  constantly  supervising 
and  all  regulating  Principle.  The  Divine  qualities  as  intelli- 
gence were  subsequently  and,  at  a  much  higher  degree  of 
creative  progression,  finitely  expressed  in  the  human  micro- 
cosm, which  is  expressly  declared  to  be  an  "image  of  God." 

It  is,  however,  here  submitted  as  a  truth  which,  it  is  be- 
lieved, will  become  more  evident  in  proportion  as  its  founda- 
tion and  bearings  are  better  understood — that  the  .identical 
principles  of  what  we  know  as  intelligence,  are  embodied 
(though  not  as  intelligence)  in  each  kingdom  or  system  of 
creation  below  man,  and  finally  in  the  universal  kingdom  of 

10 


110  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

cosmical  forms  ;  these  various  descending  embodiments  bear- 
ing to  each  other  the  relations  of  descending  octaves.  Thus 
what  is  called  intelligence  in  man,  is  called  instinct  in  animals. 
But  plants  also-,  have  a  kind  of  instinct ;  and  so  in  lower  degrees, 
have  minerals,  worlds — the  whole  universal  System  of  worlds 
— each  embodying  and  representing  a  lower  degree  of  what 
may  receive  the  general  designation  of  Love,  Wisdom,  and 
Volition;  or  Expansion,  Attraction,  and  Circulation ;  the  lowest 
triune  degree  of  which  is  embraced  in  the  functions  of  Heat, 
Light,  and  Electricity. 

The  seventh  dynamic  principle  of  the  universe,  therefore, 
which  pervades  and  governs  all  other  principles,  is  only  an 
embodiment  of  that  degree  or  octave  of  the  principles  of  the 
Divine  soul  which  is  in  immediate  relation  with,  and  serves 
to  control  the  functional  operations  of,  the  universal  cosmical 
Body ;  while  the  higher  degrees  of  the  seven- fold  Divine  har- 
monies, flowing  downward  from  the  infinite  sources  of  Divin- 
ity, are  left  to  be  embodied  and  represented  in  subsequent  and 
more  refined  creations,  or  remain  at  infinite  removes  above 
the  sphere  of  all  terrestrial  and  celestial  forms. 

Of  the  doctrine  intended  to  be  conveyed  in  these  remarks, 
a  more  distinct  and  enlarged  understanding  will  be  obtained 
as  we  proceed. 

But,  presuming  that  the  reader  already  sufficiently  compre- 
hends the  fundamental  principles  herein  set  forth,  he  is  desired 
to  bear  constantly  in  mind,  that  the  dynamic  principles  of  the 
cosmical  creation,  were  not  developed  by  the  creation  itself, 
but  developed  it ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  vitalizing 
and  moving  elements  of  all  degrees  of  material  unfolding. 
The  dynamic  principles  (constituting,  indeed,  what  may,  in  the 
aggregate,  be  called  the  general  Soul)  are  thus  the  immediate 
Cause  of  the  outer  development  (or  Body),  which  is  the  Effect. 


LAWS.       NATURE.       GOD.  Ill 

And  here  it  may  be  remarked,  that  if  there  is  any  relation  be- 
tween Cause  and  Effect,  it  must  not  only  be  a  relation  of 
generals,  but  of  particulars ;  and  thus  the  Cause  must  be  a 
precise  archetype  of  which  the  Effect  is  an  antitype  or  em- 
bodied representative ;  and  hence  the  two  must,  throughout, 
precisely  correspond  to  each  other.  Every  degree  of  creation, 
therefore,  may  be  considered  as  a  precise  outer  expression  of 
the  corresponding  degree  of  Divine  Love,  Wisdom,  and 
Energy  which  vitalizes  and  governs  it,  and  in  which  it  was 
previously  contained  as  an  archetype. 

Moreover,  these  interior  Divine  dynamic  principles,  together 
with  their  prescribed  modes  of  action,  constitute  the  operative 
laws  of  nature.  According  to  this  view,  while  there  is  a  law 
for  every  class  of  natural  and  even  spiritual  phenomena,  and 
all  things  may  be  explained  without  a  resort  to  corafra-natural 
or  contra-legal  agencies,  laws,  on  the  other  hand,  are  not  those 
lifeless,  unintellectual  fatalities  which  they  are  represented  to 
be  in  prevalent  philosophies  of  the  day,  but  they  are  the  ex- 
press modes  of  perpetual  Divine  volition.  In  looking,  there- 
fore, upon  this  universe,  with  all  it  contains,  as  faw-governed, 
we  may,  at  the  same  time,  look  upon  it  as  6W-governed.  But 
on  this  point,  more  in  its  proper  place. 

If  this  view  is  correct,  then  there  is,  in  reality,  no  necessary 
antagonism  between  materiality  and  spirituality,  nature  and 
heaven,  reason  and  revelation,  science  and  theology,  but  each 
may  be  regarded,  when  correctly  understood,  as  the  exponent 
of  the  other.  Quite  distinct,  however,  is  this  view  from  that 
gross  speculation  which  makes  of  God  nothing  more  than  the 
ultimately  sublimated  and  self-moving  essences  of  the  natural 
universe — a  kind  of  universal  hyper-galvanic  battery  which, 
by  its  perpetual  and  self-generating  action,  produces  solar  and 
planetary  revolution,  terrestrial  changes,  and  those  movements 


112  DYNAMIC     AGENTS. 

in  the  refined  essences  of  the  human  brain  which  constitute 
Thoughts.  In  our  philosophy,  God  is  God,  and  nature  is  na- 
ture— the  two  being  eternally  distinct,  though  intimately  con- 
nected and  co-related  with  each  other. 


CHAPTEE   IX. 

DEFECTS    OF    PREVAILING    COSMOLOGICAL    THEORIES. 

IF  the  foregoing  theory  of  the  origin,  structure,  dynamic 
agents,  and  laws,  of  the  universe,  has  any  foundation  in  truth, 
it  can  scarcely  fail  to  throw  important  light  upon  some  still 
ulterior  questions  relating  to  the  prescribed  distances,  motions, 
reciprocal  attractions,  etc.,  of  planetary  and  sidereal  creations. 
It  may  even  show  that  some  time-honored  theories  upon  these 
subjects,  however  sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  great  names, 
are,  in  certain  particulars,  radically  defective ;  and  this  it  will 
do,  if  at  all,  by  transcending  them  in  the  ease,  naturalness, 
and  completeness  with  which  it  accounts  for  certain  existing 
phenomena. 

It  was  supposed  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  that  all  rotatory  and 
orbitual  motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  originated  from  a  pri- 
mary and  external  impulse  received  from  the  hand  of  the  Crea- 
tor, as  they  were  launched  into  space.  To  this  was  added  the 
philosophical  axiom,  that  any  body  put  in  motion  in  a  vacuum, 
will  continue  forever  to  move  in  a  straight  line,  unless  de- 
flected from  its  course  by  some  other  force.  This  deflecting 
force,  as  applied  to  the  motions  of  the  planets,  Newton  found 
in  the  law  of  gravitation,  which  was  by  him  proved  to  apply 
to  all  planetary  bodies.  By  the  precisely  counterbalancing 
action  of  these  two  forces,  called  the  centrifugal  and  centripetal 
forces,  the  motions  of  the  planets  were  supposed  to  be  regu- 
lated in  circular  or  elliptical  orbits  round  the  sun,  the  specific 


114  DEFECTS     OF     PREVAILING 

distances  of  these  being  greater  or  less  according  to  the  near- 
ness or  remoteness  of  the  point  where  these  two  forces  were 
exactly  balanced  against  each  other. 

But  Newton  soon  found  this  theory,  seemingly  perfect  in 
other  respects,  encumbered  with  difficulties  in  respect  to  the 
stability  of  the  system.  He  found  that  the  different  planets 
were  not  only  attracted  by  the  sun,  but  mutually  attracted  by 
each  other.  These  different  attractions,  varying  in  intensity  in 
the  inverse  ratio  of  the  squares  of  distances,  according  to  a 
law  discovered  by  Kepler,  were  accompanied  by  perturbations, 
producing  irregularities  in  orbitual  motions  which  were  sub- 
ject to  secular  increase.  The  system,  thus,  left  to  its  own  in- 
ternal provisions,  seemed  to  prophesy  its  own  progressive 
derangement,  and  its  ultimate  entire  disorganization ;  and 
Newton  felt  impelled  to  call  upon  God  to  avert  such  a  catas- 
trophe, by  supplying  a  force  from  without,  which  he  supposed 
did  not  exist  within,  the  system. 

The  calculations  of  subsequent  mathematicians,  however, 
served,  in  a  good  degree,  to  dispel  these  gloomy  forebodings, 
and  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  irregularities  and  apparent 
incipient  derangements  in  the  motions  of  the  system,  would 
finally  reach  their  maximum,  after  which  there  would  be  a 
gradual  return  to  the  condition  of  primeval  equilibrium ;  that 
thence  there  would  be  a  progressive  tendency  to  irregularity 
in  the  opposite  direction,  to  be  succeeded  by  another  reaction; 
and  that  the  perpetual  vibrations  of  these  irregularities,  like 
the  oscillations  of  a  mighty  pendulum,  would  serve  to  mark 
the  hours  and  moments  of  eternity ! 

This  conception  of  the  laws,  internal  arrangements,  and 
movements,  of  the  system,  together  with  the  apparent  mathe- 
matical evidences  which  have  been  arrayed  in  its  support, 
can  not  otherwise  than  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest 


COSMOLOGICAL     THEORIES.  115 

triumphs  of  human  genius.  Yet,  even  while  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  its  sublimity,  one  can  not  well  suppress  a  sense 
of  sadness  as  he  contemplates  its  cold,  mechanical  lifelessness 
— I  had  almost  said  Godlessness  !  Contemplated  in  this  light, 
the  universe  appears  somewhat  analogous  to  an  ingeniously 
constructed  machine,  which  is  wound  up,  and  left  to  go  of 
itself,  while  its  maker  withholds  all  further  exercise  of  power 
from  it,  and  forever  withdraws  all  immediate  personal  care 
over  it,  as  being  unnecessary.  With  this  philosophy  impressed 
upon  our  minds,  we  look  up  into  the  heavens,  and,  though  we 
behold  incessant  motion  and  activity  in  every  direction,  we 
see  no  necessary  evidence  of  immanent  life  or  spirit — nothing 
with  which  our  souls  can  sympathize  as  the  present  pervading 
Animus  and  constantly  impelling  Cause  of  the  phenomena  we 
behold ;  and  it  is  only  by  an  almost  painful  stretch  of  the 
powers  of  inductive  reasoning,  that  we  can  attain  to  any  sub- 
stantial conviction  of  a  spiritual  or  voluntative  Cause,  as  having 
been  connected  with  the  system  even  at  its  origin  ! 

It  may  be  added,  that  thousands  of  persons,  on  arriving  at 
a  full  comprehension  and  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  Newto- 
nian theory  of  a  merely  mechanical  universe,  and  of  vacuity 
in  the  interplanetary  and  interstellar  spaces,  have  anxiously 
inquired,  "  Where  and  what,  then,  is  that  spiritual  world  to 
which  our  interior  natures  aspire,  and  for  which  Revelation 
encourages  us  to  hope]"  and  nature,  viewed  in  this  aspect, 
has  not  only  refused  to  respond  in  language  which  appeals  to 
the  conceptive  and  reasoning  powers,  but  has  interposed  a 
cloud  of  darkness  and  doubt  between  the  inquirer  and  the  sub- 
ject which  he  seeks  to  comprehend !  In  its  efforts  to  satisfy 
the  irrepressible  yearnings  of  the  spirit  within,  Fancy  has 
erected  a  formless,  unextended,  unsubstantial — even  unaerial 
— figment,  that  bears  no  relation  to  space  or  the  material  uni- 


116  DEFECTS     OF     PREVAILING 

verse,  or  to  any  of  the  rational  faculties  of  the  soul ;  and  in 
this  mankind  have  been  told  to  have  faith,  as  the  place  or  state 
of  future  human  destination  !  But  a  rational  faith  in  such  an 
utter  inconceivability  is  out  of  the  question,  and  an  extra- 
rational  and  mere  dogmatic  faith,  in  such  an  idea,  can  not 
generally,  if  ever,  be  kept  free  from  superstition,  and  hence, 
from  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  mental  degradation  and 
slavery.  Hence,  in  case  of  full  adoption  of  the  Newtonian 
system  of  cosmogony,  a  determination  to  follow  only  the  con- 
victions of  reason  will  necessarily  tend  to  skepticism  with 
reference  to  spiritual,  and  to  s.rme  extent  even  with  reference 
to  Divine  things ;  and  there  is  no  latent  force  in  the  theory 
which,  by  any  development  can  ever  correct  this  mental  ab- 
erration. In  the  spirit  and  tendency  of  this  merely  me- 
chanical mode  of  philosophizing  upon  the  universe,  may,  I 
apprehend,  be  found  the  main  cause  of  the  growing  materialism 
and  skepticism  of  these  modern  days,  especially  among  minds 
called  scientific. 

Subjected  to  the  test  of  rationality,  however,  the  Newtonian 
system,  in  *at  least  one  of  its  features,  seems  to  be  almost  as 
bad  off  as  the  only  spiritual  and  theological  theories  that  can 
be  rationally  associated  with  it.  It  predicates  mutual  gravita- 
tion of  any  two  distant  bodies,  while  it  fails  to  recognize,  if  it 
does  not,  by  implication,  entirely  preclude  the  idea  of,  any 
intervening  gravitating  agent.  But  that  any  two  bodies  can 
in  any  way  act  upon  each  other,  either  without  immediate 
contact,  or .  the  intervention  of  some  substantial  medium  by 
which  they  can  touch  each  other,  is  utterly  inconceivable,  and 
can  no  more  bo  supposed  than  any  effect  can  be  supposed  to  be 
disconnected  with  an  adequate  cause.  We  do  not,  however, 
charge  the  theory  with  absolutely  and  necessarily  precluding 
such  a  medium ;  but  by  manifesting,  at  its  very  starting  point, 


COSMOLOGICAL     THEORIES.  117 

such  a  strong  inclination  to  the  idea  of  absolute  vacuity  in  the 
interplanetary  spaces,  it  not  only  fails  to  provide  such  a  me- 
dium, but,  in  effect,  discountenances  the  idea  that  such  exists. 
In  the  theory  which  we  have  maintained  in  the  preceding 
pages,  however,  the  medium  in  question,  is  abundantly  pro- 
vided. 

Moreover,  the  system  as  conceived  by  Newton  can  not,  after 
all,  be  contemplated  without  some  degree  of  apprehension  in 
regard  to  its  safety.  For,  notwithstanding  the  figurings  of  sub- 
sequent mathematicians  respecting  the  reaction  which  tends  to 
restore  lost  equilibrium,  if  we  do  away  with  the  immediate 
immanence  of  Divine  Vitality — in  other  words,  with  the  im- 
mediate presence  and  agency  of  that  degree  of  the  Divine  Es- 
sence and  Power  of  which  the  universe  forms  a  suitable 
habitation,  and  which  is  necessary  to  the  life  and  functional 
operations  of  the  latter  as  of  one  Body — then  there  are  many 
chances  against  the  existence  of  an  absolute  equilibrium  in  the 
different  parts  and  forces  of  the  great  Whole :  and  if  there  is 
ever  a  disturbance  of  the  equilibrium  to  an  extent  which  can 
not  be  entirely  restored  by  a  counter  oscillation,  even  though 
this  be  only  the  fraction  of  the  weight  of  a  planet,  or  even  the 
amount  of  a  single  pound,  the  disturbance  will  progressively 
aggravate,  and  a  universal  catastrophe  will  be  the  final  and 
inevitable  result ! 

If,  therefore,  the  stability  of  the  universe  depends  merely 
upon  the  nice  counterpoise  of  the  centrifugal  and  centripetal 
forces,  as  independent  of  this  constant  Divine  Force,  and  of 
any  elastic,  active,  and  reactive  medium  to  keep  the  various 
celestial  bodies  within  prescribed  boundaries,  then  human  rea- 
son can  not  withhold  the  suspicion  of  danger  as  it  contem- 
plates the  stupendous  Machine,  or  suppress  the  apprehension 
that  it  may  one  day  fly  to  pieces,  and  involve  us  all  in  the 


118  NO     VACUITY     IN     SPACE. 

common  wreck !  This  apprehension  greatly  increases,  when 
it  is  considered  that  Newton's  hypothesis  of  absolute  vacuity 
in  the  spaces  through  which  the  celestial  bodies  move — an 
hypothesis  upon  which,  according  to  him,  the  equilibrium 
between  the  centrifugal  and  centripetal  forces  necessarily 
depends — has  proved  unfounded,  and  that  the  phenomena  of 
retardation  of  comets  in  their  orbits,  has  proved  that  the  in- 
terplanetary spaces  are  pervaded  by  an  attenuated  fluid  or 
ether,  capable  of  exerting  some  resistance  to  their  progress. 

It  is  here  submitted,  with  all  due  deference  to  the  superior 
intelligence  of  many  who  have  never  entertained  a  doubt  of 
the  entire  truthfulness  of  Newton's  theory,  that  that  theory, 
at  least  without  essential  modifications,  would  probably  never 
have  been  propounded  by  Newton,  or  adopted  by  others,  had 
the  theory  of  the  nebular  origin  of  the  universe,  with  its  accom- 
panying evidences,  and  natural  corollaries,  been  previously- 
subjected  to  familiar  contemplation. 

We  now  proceed  to  briefly  unfold  a  theory  respecting  the 
foregoing  subjects,  which,  whatever  may  be  its  imperfections, 
seems  to  the  writer,  at  least,  much  less  encumbered  with  diffi- 
culties than  the  merely  mechanical  theory  of  Newton,  while 
it  is  certainly  more  compatible  with  the  idea  of  an  immediate 
and  universal  Divine  superintendence. 


CHAPTEE  X. 

GKOUNDS  OF  STABILITY  AND  GENEKAL  ECONOMY  OP 
THE  COSMICAL  STKUCTUEE. 

As  a  preliminary  step  toward  a  due  comprehension  and 
appreciation  of  the  theory  now  to  be  offered  respecting  the  in- 
ternal forces,  movements,  grounds  of  stability,  and  general 
economy  of  the  universe,  the  reader  is  requested  to  bear  dis- 
tinctly in  mind  that  principles  operate  indifferently  upon  a 
large  and  a  small  scale — that  the  magnitudes  and  distances  of 
the  objects  to  which  they  apply,  are  absolutely  of  no  conse- 
quence as  affecting  the  essential  nature  of  their  operations. 

Now,  in  the  light  of  this  truism,  let  us  suppose  some  simple 
vegetable  form — say  an  apple — to  be  placed  under  a  micro- 
scope so  exceedingly  powerful  as  to  magnify  it  to  the  apparent 
size  of  that  immense  spheroid  of  stellar  orbs  with  their  planets, 
which  is  known  to  us  as  the  Milky  Way,  and  in  the  midst  of 
which  our  world  is  situated.  We  will  suppose  that  the  pores 
of  the  apple  would,  in  that  case,  appear  of  a  magnitude  equally 
great  with  the  interplanetary  and  interstellar  spaces,  and  that 
the  molecules  would  be  magnified  to  the  apparent  size  of 
worlds.  Moreover,  the  internal  motions  of  the  molecules,  ob- 
serving the  natural  order  of  vegetative  circulation  and  pro- 
gression, would  bear  a  certain  resemblance  to  the  rotatory  and 
orbitual  motions  of  suns  and  planets,  and  all,  obeying  the  law 
by  which  the  distinct  stratifications  and  compartments  of  the 
apple  are  formed,  would  give  an  appearance  somewhat  similar 


120  GENERAL     ECONOMY     OF 

to  distinct  systems,  and  systems  of  systems  of  suns  and 
plan%ts,  as  these  are  successively  brought '  into  the  field  of  a 
telescope.  Suppose,  that  after  this  optical  arrangement  is 
completed,  some  learned  Newtonian  astronomer,  who  is  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  its  nature,  is  invited,  on  some  clear  even- 
ing, to  look  through  the  instrument,  which  is  represented  to 
him  as  a  newly  invented  telescope,  instead  of  a  microscope. 
The  astronomer  gazes  with  wonder  and  astonishment,  and 
thinks  he  has  obtained  a  new  and  favorable  view  of  some 
stellar  and  planetary  creation  which  has  not  before  appeared 
to  him  exactly  in  the  same  aspect. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Astronomer,"  demands  an  inquirer,  "  what  is 
your  opinion  respecting  the  origin  of  the  motions,  the  laws  of 
operation,  and  the  soured  of  stability,  of  the  system  which  you 
are  now  surveying "?" 

"  Why,  undoubtedly,"  replies  the  astronomer,  "  the  same 
principles  are  applicable  here  that  apply  to  all  planetary  and 
stellar  creations;"  and  if  he  added  no  more,  he  would  thus 
far  be  correct.  But  he  continues,  "  Undoubtedly  each  one  of 
those  bodies  received  a  certain  mechanical  impulse  as  it  was 
launched  into  space  from  -ihe  hand  of  the  Creator.  Each  one 
moves  in  a  vacuum,  and  would  have  continued  its  primitive 
motion  in  a  direct  line  forever,  had  it  not  been  deflected  from 
its  course  by  an  equal  and  perpetually  operative  force  of  grav- 
itation, whence  its  present  motion  is  in  a  circular  or  elliptical 
orbit.  If  either  one  of  those  revolving  bodies,"  continues 
the  sage  astronomer,  "  were  arrested  in  its  orbit,  and  the  cen- 
trifugal force  were  thus  destroyed,  gravitation  would  immedi- 
ately draw  it  to  the  central  sun,  and  this  would  probably  so 
derange  the  equilibrium  of  the  system  as  to  ultimately  pro- 
duce a  universal  catastrophe !" 

If  the  astronomer  is  now  shown  a  direct  view  of  the  real 


THE     COSMICAL     STRUCTURE.  121 

subject  of  these  speculations — is  shown  that  it  is  merely  an 
apple — he  will  consider  this  as  of  itself  a  sufficient  refutation 
of  his  speculations,  so  far  as  that  object  was  concerned ;  be- 
cause he  considers  the  internal  molecular  motions  of  the  apple 
as  being  governed  by  a  principle  of  life,  and  this  he  regards 
as  of  itself  amply  sufficient  to  keep  up  the  equilibrium  of  its 
particular  parts. 

But  each  cluster,  or  firmament,  of  suns,  with  its  planets,  is, 
in  principle,  but  an  apple  on  a  large  scale.  Some  of  the  more 
distant,  and  less  easily  resolvable,  nebulae,  indeed,  appear  to  a 
telescope  of  small  power,  almost  in  the  identical  form  and 
sitfe  of  an  apple ;  and,  viewed  apart  from  all  other  considera- 
tions than  those  suggested  by  their  own  proper  aspects,  as  the 
white,  milky  spots,  which  they  present  to  telescopes  incapable 
of  resolving  them,  one  might  have  easily  conceived  that  they 
were  agitated  by  internal  motions ;  but  the  conception  that 
these  internal  motions  were  referable  to  external  and  mechan- 
ical impulses,  and  that  the  moving  bodies  (which  the  distance 
of  view  reduces  to  molecules)  were  sustained  in  equilibrio  by 
counter  impulses,  according  to  the  Newtonian  theory  of  plan- 
etary motion,  would  have  been  as  unnatural  and  far-fetched, 
as  would  be  precisely  the  same  theory  applied  to  the  internal 
molecular  motions  of  an  apple. 

Indeed,  it  is  conceivable  that  one  might  be  miraculously 
elevated  above  the  whole  plane  of  sidereal  creations  to  a 
distance  so  great  that,  as  he  looked  down  upon  the  whole  uni- 
verse of  firmaments,  the  whole  might  present  one  unresolved 
mass  apparently,  from  that  distance,  no  larger  than  the  size 
of  an  apple.  Now,  when  we  remember  that  in  the  workings 
of  principles  there  is  absolutely  no  distinction  made  between 
great  and  small  bodies,  how  naturally  may  it  be  supposed  that 
the  whole  universe,  with  all  its  included  sub-universes  is  per 

II 


122  GENERAL     ECONOMY     OF 

vaded,  like  the  apple,  by  an  internal  principle  of  Life,  and 
that  this  is  the  cause  of  all  its  internal  motions,  and  the  sus- 
tainer  of  equilibrium  among  all  its  constituent  orbs,  which,  to 
it,  are  in  reality  no  more  than  what  the  molecules  are  to  the 
apple ! 

But  let  us  endeavor  to  obtain  a  more  distinct  view  of  some 
of  the  constituent  elements  embraced  in  this  general  theory : 
Our  theory,  before  propounded,  of  constantly  emanative,  as 
well  as  constantly  gravitafive,  forces  as  connected  with  planets, 
suns,  systems,  and  firmaments,  seems,  if  correct,  to  necessi- 
tate the  conclusion  that  universal  space  is  constantly  filled 
with  substance.  This  substance  is  in  the  solid,  fluid,  aeriform, 
and  ethereal  states.  In  its  densest  state,  it  may  be  supposed 
to  be  indefinitely  more  dense  than  the  heaviest  substances 
known  upon  earth,  and  in  its  rarest  state,  it  may  be  supposed 
to  be  indefinitely  more  rare  than  electricity,  and  between  these 
two  extremes,  there  are  probably  all  intermediates.  The  uni- 
verse may  thus  be  regarded  as  only  one  vast  ethereal  Body, 
having  in  its  general  mass  innumerable  points  of  condensation, 
which  are  suns,  planets,  etc. 

Now,  the  force  which  originally  induced  nebulous  circles, 
firmaments,  suns,  planets,  satellites,  etc.,  to  assume  their  re- 
spective orbits  at  specific  distances  from  their  primaries,  and 
which  perpetually  operates  (with  some  modifications,  accord- 
ing to  different  stages  of  progression)  to  keep  these  bodies  in 
those  general  orbits  after  they  are  assumed,  may,  in  a  degree, 
be  conceived  by  the  following  illustration :  The  ponderable 
atmosphere  of  the  earth  at  a  level  with  the  sea,  is  relatively 
dense,  while  at  the  tops  of  the  highest  mountains  it  is  rela- 
tively rare ;  and  at  an  altitude  of  forty-five  or  fifty  miles,  ac- 
cording to  received  estimates,  its  existence  ceases  to  be  appre- 
ciable. Hydrogen  gas  is  much  lighter  than  the  ponderable 


THE     COS  MIC  A  L     STKUCTUKE.  123 

terrestrial  atmosphere  at  a  level  with  the  sea';  and  when  con- 
fined in  a  balloon,  it  ascends,  with  its  envelope,  to  an  altitude 
determined  by  the  degree  of  buoyancy  of  gas  and  balloon 
united,  and  there  it  floats  until  dissipated.  Now,  each  solar 
and  planetary  body  in  jspace,  is  surrounded  by  a  calorific, 
luminous,  electric,  and  ethereal  atmosphere,  which,  in  like  man- 
ner, varies  in  density  and  power  with  the  distance  from  the 
center  of  condensation  ;  and,  by  virtue  of  the  respective 
•super-aerial  atmospheres  of  any  two  bodies  sustaining  to  each 
other  the  relations  of  primary  and  secondary,  the  secondary 
body  assumes  an  orbitual  distance  from  the  primary,  which, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  balloon,  is.  governed  by  the  law  of  equi- 
librium— which  distance,  however,  is  somewhat  modified  by 
centrifugal  force. 

This  illustration  of  the  balloon,  however,  is  very  imper-fcct, 
and  only  serves  to  enable  the  reader  to  approximate  to  a  con- 
ception of  the  true  idea ;  for  we  are  not  to  eonsider  any  planet 
or  other  celestial  body,  as  having  the  same  degree  of  affinity 
for  its  primary  as  the  balloon  has  for  the  earth,  or  as  being 
attracted  to  it  in  exactly  the  same  way,  or  as  it  would  be,  if 
there  were  no  greater  dissimilarity  between  its  matter  and  the 
matter  of  the  primary,  than  there  is  between  the  matter  of 
the  balloon  and  that  of  the  earth.  But  each  celestial  body  is 
composed  of  materials,  and  possesses  calorific,  electric,  odic, 
and  other  forces  and  properties,  and  hence  affinities,  peculiar 
to  itself,  and  which,  in  general,  differ  from  those  of  any  other 
given  body  in  proportion  to  the  distance  of  its  natural  situ- 
ation. Moreover,  each  planet,  sun,  etc.,  as  before  intimated, 
is  only  the  condensed  center  of  a  general  ethereal  body  of  no 
particularly  defined  circumference,  but  whose  refined  emana- 
tions, growing  more  rare  with  each  remove  from  their  centers, 
extend  indefinitely  into  space,  In  this  way,  each  body  inter- 


124  GENERAL     ECONOMY     OF 

communicates  with,  and  acts  upon,  all  kindred  bodies,  and  is 
acted  upon  by  them  in  return ;  the  action  consisting  in  an  in- 
terblending  of  the  forces  and  properties  of  the  different 
bodies.  When  this  interblending  is  harmonious,  the  action  is 
attractive ;  when  it  is  conflicting,  it  is  repulsive.  Beyond  cer- 
tain limits  of  distance,  the  interblending  actions  of  any  two 
bodies,  however  dissimilar  in  constitution,  is  always  harmoni- 
ous— and  hence  attractive ;  within  those  limits  of  distance, 
the  action  is  crowding  and  conflicting,  and  hence  repellant. 

Suppose,  then,  that  by  some  controlling  arm,  or  some  acci- 
dental impediment,  a  planet  were  suddenly  arrested  in  its 
orbit,  and  were  thus  relieved  from  the  influence  of  centrifugal 
force:  it  would  immediately  be  drawn  toward  its  primary 
with  a  force  which  would  uniformly  increase  as  the  square  of 
the  distance  decreased,  provided  no  counteracting  force  were 
developed  by  the  approach  to  the  central  body.  In  falling  in- 
ward, however,  although  the  attractive  force  would,  for  a  time, 
be  increased  (that  is,  until  the  previous  centrifugal  displace- 
ment was  overcome),  its  elastic  atmosphere  wroulcT  begin  to 
crowd  more  and  more  upon  the  elastic  atmosphere  of  the  sun, 
and  even  its  own  solidified  particles,  by  the  increased  calorific, 
photic,  electric,  odic,  and  vital  action  due  to  the  proximity  of 
the  two  bodies  as  centers  of  such  action,  would,  in  themselves, 
develop  an  emanative  or  repellent  force  in  respect  to  the  pri- 
mary ;  and,  owing  to  these  causes,  the  secondary  body  could 
not  approach  within  a  certain  distance  of  its  primary,  within 
which  distance  the  repellent  force  would  be  superior  to  the 
attractive. 

The  same  idea  is  involved  in  the  theory  (before  propounded) 
of  the  process  by  which  secondary  bodies  were  formed  from 
primaries — and  which  supposes  that  the  secondaries  are  com- 
posed of  an  equal  quantity  of  attracted  and  emanated  particles. 


'     THE     COSMICAL     STRUCTURE.  125 

As  each  individual  of  these,  acted  upon  by  centrifugal  force, 
finds  its  equilibrium  at  the  particular  point  where,  by  the  union 
of  all,  the  secondary  body  is  formed,  sO  the  united  mass  of  par- 
ticles in  the  body  thus  formed,  has  no  more  tendency  to  draw 
nearer  to  the  primary  than  it  has  to  emanate  further  from  it. 

Suppose,  then,  any  particular  secondary  body  should  be 
violently  arrested  in  its  orbit :  it  would  evidently  sink  into 
the  ethereal  atmosphere  of  its^  primary  a  distance  measured 
by  its  previous  centrifugal  displacement,  which,  in  most  cases, 
would  be  considerable ;  but  at  some  point  between  its  former 
orbit  and  the  primary,  it  would  attain  to  an  exact  equilibrium 
between  the  attractive  and  emanative  or  repellent  influences, 
and  there  its  inward  motion  would  stop.  If  held  there  by 
violence,  and  prevented  from  partaking  of  the  general  vortical 
motion  of  the  system,  it  would  be  to  the  cosmical  system  what 
a  mass  of  displaced  particles,  or  a  splinter  of  foreign  matter, 
would  be  to  the  human  system ;  and  the  effect  would  be,  an 
inflammation,  suppuration,  and  dissolution,  of  the  part.  For, 
it  is  evident  that  in  such  a  case  the  body  would  accumulate 
heat  and  other  repellent  elements  from  the  primary,  more 
rapidly  than  it  could  relieve  itself  of  them,  and  sooner  or  later 
these  accumulations  would  be  beyond  its  powers  of  endurance. 
The  particles  in  that  case  would  separate  in  detail,  and  would 
either  be  digested  and  assimilated  with  the  general  mass  of 
the  primary  and  its  atmosphere,  or,  assuming  the  general  revo- 
lutionary motion  of  the  system,  would  be  again  thrown  out- 
ward by  the  resultant  centrifugal  force,  and  would  reaggregate 
themselves  at  their  original  distance,  and  the  planet  would  be 
formed  anew. 

For  an  explanation  of  the  principles  on  which  all  rotatory 
and  orbitual  motion  may  originate,  the  reader  is  referred  to  an 
earlier  stage  of  this  treatise,  in  which  we  spoke  of  the  first 


126  GENERAL     ECONOMY     OF 

assumption  of  rotatory  motion  in  the  universal  mass  :  and,  by- 
considering  the  universe  still  as  one  general  Body,  interiorly 
gravitating  and  emanating  as  in  the  beginning,  he  may  conceive 
how  these  motions,  not  only  of  the  great  general  Body,  but 
of  all  its  included  and  correspondent  sw&-bodies,  is  perpetually 
sustained  by  a  constant  supply  of  the  same  forces  which  ope- 
rated in  the  beginning,  and  which  constantly  inflow  from  the 
inexhaustible  sources  of  Divine  Spiritual  Heat  and  Light, 
which  mean  Love  and  Wisdom,  and  which  constituted  the 
Alpha  and  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last,  the  beginning  and  the 
ending  of  this  grand  creative  operation  !  What  can  be  a  more 
natural  thought  than  that  the  universe  is  constructed,  and  that 
all  its  functional  operations  are  carried  on,  according  to  the 
foregoing  principles!  and  what  hypothesis  relating  to  this 
grand  subject  is  so  free  from  difficulties ! 

If  the  universe  is  actually  constructed  on  these  principles, 
it  manifestly  possesses  (under  the  operations  of  its  pervading 
Divine  Life)  a  self-regulating  power  which  must  necessarily 
give  it  the  utmost  conceivable  stability — the  stability  of  an 
almost  infinite  living  Organism,  exempted  from  all  external 
causes  of  death !  Let  planets  be  crowded  out  of  their  orbits, 
if  such  a  thing  were  possible  (which  it  is  not),  and  they  will 
either  spontaneously  return  again,  or  new  arrangements  will  be 
assumed  among  their  associate  bodies,  which  will  be  according 
to  the  law  of  equilibrium,  and  equally  harmonious  with  the 
previous  condition.  Let  planets,  or  even  whole  systems,  by 
any  imaginable  means,  be  stricken  out  of  existence:  there 
would  be  an  immediate  supplying  of  the  vacuum — a  healing 
up  of  the  part — and  scarcely  a  cicatrice  would  remain.  In  short, 
let  the  system,  by  some  imagined  foreign  force,  be  wounded 
and  deranged  in  almost  any  conceivable  way :  it  would  still 
contain  an  internal  power  of  recuperation.  But  as  a  Divinely 


THE     COSMICAL      STRUCTURE.  127 

constituted  Fabric,  destined  to  unspeakably  noble  and  glori- 
ous ends,  it  is  entirely  free  from  all  causes  of  material  dis- 
turbance, and  will  live  on  until  its  highest  purposes  are  fully 
attained,  when,  as  one  Grand  Man,  it  will  change  its  whole 
mode  of  being  for  one  which  is  more  spiritual,  more  Divine, 
and  inconceivably  more  glorious  ! 


CHAPTEK   XI. 

PARTICULAR    CONSIDERATIONS    CONCERNING   THE    GENESIS    AND 
MODUS    OPERANDI    OP   THE    SOLAR  SYSTEM. 

LITTLE  more  needs  to  be  said,  by  way  of  applying  the  fore- 
going principles  to  the  genesis  and  modus  operandi  of  our  own 
Solar  System.  It  has  been  before  intimated  that  the  identical 
principles  are  involved  here  that  were  concerned  in  the  origin 
and  government  of  the  universe,  as  a  whole,  with  some 
modifications  in  the  form  of  their  results,  as  owing  to  differ- 
ences of  conditions,  and  that  the  seven-fold  series  is  observed 
in  the  laws,  operations,  and  successive  stages  of  unfolding,  in 
both  instances.  In  both  instances  there  are  the  successive  and 
ascending  degrees  of  Chaos,  Nucleation,  Spheroidation,  Circu- 
lar Agregation,  Segregation,  Secondary  Spheroidation,  and  the 
complete  and  ultimate  cosmical  unfolding.  In  both  cases  the 
dynamic  agents  of  Heat,  Light,  and  Electricity,  with  their 
corresponding  triad  of  odic  elements  are  involved,  to  which, 
in  both  cases,  is  superadded  the  all-pervading  and  controlling 
Divine  Life  Principle. 

The  chief  differences  in  the  specific  forms  of  developments 
in  the  two  cases,  lies  between  their  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  and 
seventh  degrees.  In  the  series  of  developments  through  which 
we  have  supposed  the  universe,  as  one  whole  Body,  to  have 
passed,  we  have  supposed  the  fourth  development  to  be  that 
of  nebulous  rings,  surrounding  the  primary  spheroid — or,  at 
least,  segments  of  rings  so  large,  and  of  such  various  parts,  as 


THE     SOLAK     SYSTEM.  129 

to  preclude  the  possibility  of  an  aggregation  of  the  materials 
of  either  ring  or  segment,  into  one  spheroidal  body ;  while,  in 
the  Solar  System,  the  size  and  other  conditions  of  each  of  these 
cycloidal  nebulae  were,  with  apparently  one  exception,  such  as 
to  admit  of  an  aggregation  into  one  spheroidal  body.  The 
exception  here  referred  to  relates  to  the  mass  of  materials 
from  which  originated  the  asteroids.  The  fifth  or  segregative 
process  in  the  universal  development,  consists,  according  to 
our  hypothesis,  of  the  division  of  each  nebulous  ring  or  seg- 
ment, into  a  multitude  of  angular  and  indefinitely  formed 
masses ;  whereas  the  fifth  and  corresponding  development  in 
the  Solar  System,  consisted  (in  every  case  except  that  of  the 
asteroids,  as  before  mentioned)  simply  of  the  breaking  up  of 
the  nebulous  ring,  and  the  assemblage  of  its  parts  into  one 
body.  The  processes  of  the  sixth  development,  both  of  the 
Universe  and  of  the  Solar  System,  were  perfectly  identical, 
except  that  in  the  former  case  solar  spheres,  and  in  the  latter, 
the  gaseous  and  incandescent  spheres  of  nascent  planets,  were 
the  result.  The  seventh  development  of  the  universe  con- 
sisted of  the  unfolding  of  the  identical  forms  which  were  the 
product  of  the  sixth  development  of  the  solar  system,  viz., 
the  forms  of  nascent  planets,  as  aforesaid ;  whereas  the  seventh 
development  of  the  solar  system,  consisted  of  the  superficial 
solidification  of  those  bodies,  and  such  other  changes  in  them 
as  prepared  them  for  the  introduction  of  the  first  and  lowest 
of  the  organic  forms,  by  which  they  were  subsequently 
tenanted. 

But  although  the  Universal  System  and  the  Solar  System 
thus  each  consists  of  a  complete  octave  of  developments,  each 
octave  has  its  own  particular  key-note,  which  differs  from  that 
of  the  other.  That  is  to  say,  they  do  not  begin  at  the  same 
place  iu  the  staff,  nor  does  one  begin  where  the  other  ends. 


130        .  ORIGIN     OF     COMETS. 

This,  however,  does  not  in  any  respect  destroy  the  corre- 
spondence of  the  principles  which  both  involve. 

After  the  sun  and  planets  were  thus  formed  by  agglomer- 
ations and  condensations  of  the  originally  diffused  mass  of 
chaotic  materials,  there  would  naturally  still  remain  in  dif- 
fusion through  the  general  sphere  of  the  system,  a  quantity 
of  mundane  matter,  so  great  as  to  be  liable,  under  the  further 
action  of  the  law  of  condensation,  to  ultimately  assume  forms 
more  or  less  distinctly  visible.  This  consideration  hints  at 
the  origin  and  character  of  those  erratic,  and  in  some  cases 
apparently  almost  lawless  bodies,  called  comets.  These  are 
mere  excrescences  upon,  the  system — incidents  of  previous 
developments ;  and  their  anomalas  of  constitution  and  motions 
are  probably  the  results  of  their  borderings  upon  the  extreme 
confines  of  the  forces  and  laws  provided  for  the  government 
of  the  system.  Aside  from  some  illustrations  of  cosmical 
laws  which  they  afford,  they  probably  subserve  no  purpose 
which  is  much  more  important  than  that  of  the  amusement 
of  astronomers. 

This  idea  of  residual  nebular  matter  also  accounts  for  that 
singular  nebulous  and  oblately  spheroidal  envelope  of  the  sun, 
which  is  called  the  "  Zodiacal  Light."  Probably  neither  the  for- 
mation of  this  nor  of  the  comets,  was  specifically  contemplated 
in  the  original  plan  of  the  Creator,  but  the  development  of 
each  was  incidental  to  the  uniform  operations  of  established 
laws. 

As  originated  our  own  solar  system,  so  we  may  suppose 
originated  all  other  solar  systems  in  space,  with  differences  in 
the  forms  of  the  operations  and  results  of  identical  principles, 
according  to  differences  in  material  conditions  and  local 
circumstances. 


CHAPTEK    XII. 


SYNTHETICAL   VIEW   OP   THE   OBIGIN   OF   THE   EARTH, 
AND   ITS    GEOLOGICAL   FOEMATIONS. 

THE  last  developed  forms  of  the  universal  cosmical  struc- 
ture, viz.,  the  distinctly  segregated  masses  of  planetary  matter 
before  described,  may  be  viewed  in  the  light  of  Seed  of  the 
great  Tree  of  previous  Being,  and  Germs  of  a  future  and  cor- 
responding creation.  By  means  of  a  generative  influence 
constantly  descending  from  the  Divine  Spirit,  as  the  Source 
of  all  subordinate  existences,  a  corresponding  octave  of  unfold- 
ings  now  ensue,  which  may  be  called  the  geognostic  unfold- 
ings.  The  successive  stages  of  these,  which,  like  other  systems 
of  creation,  form  a  seven-fold  scries,  seem,  both  in  the  light  of 
principles  and  facts,  to  observe  the  following  order  and 
relations : 


PRIMARY  TRINITY. 
1.  Chaotic    or    unformed   fiery 
vapor. 


2.  Spheroidal    nucleus    (liquid 
and  gaseous). 


3.  Granito-aqueous,  or,  super- 
ficially solidified  and  oceanic. 


SECONDARY  TRINITY. 

4.  The  "Transition  Period  ."cha- 

racterized mainly  by  aerial 
developments  and  changes. 

5.  The  "  Secondary  Period,"  cha- 

racterized by  distinctions  of 
climates  and  seasons,  and 
their  corresponding  sediment- 
ary deposits. 

6.  The.  "Tertiary,"  or,  the  vol- 

canic, lacustrine,  fluvatile, 
and  abrasive  Period. 

ULTIMATE. 
7.  Recent  or  Alluvial  Period. 


132  ORIGIN     OF     THE     EARTH 

In  our  descending  or  analytical  view  of  creation,  we  spoke 
briefly  of  some  of  the  more  superficial  characteristics  of  these 
terrestrial  developments ;  but  we  will  now  glance  at  the  as- 
pects in  which  they  will  appear  in  the  light  of  the  a  priori  and 
a  posteriori  processes  of  reasoning  combined. 

1.  THE  CHAOTIC  STAGE. — In  our  analytical  and  analogical 
view  of  the  terrestrial  system,  we  found  abundant  reason  to 
believe  that  our  earth  was  formed  from  a  mass  of  primeval 
fiery  vapor,  as  expressing  material  conditions  antecedent  to  the 
fiery  liquid  mass,  of  which,  facts  prove  that  our  globe  once 
consisted.  Following  the  further  and  obvious  teachings  of 
analogy,  as  well  as  the  intimations  of  certain  celestial  phe- 
nomena, we  were  led  to  the  conclusion  that  this  mass  must 
have  been  a  result  of  a  previous  aggregation  and  segregation 
of  the  materials  of  the  solar  atmosphere,  of  which  an  explana- 
tion is  involved  in  the  now  apparently  well-established  theory 
of  the  formation  of  the  nebulous  rings,  and  their  subsequent 
changes. 

It  seems  to  be  a  well-founded  opinion  of  believers  in  the 
nebular  theory,  that  the  gaseous  cycloid,  whose  condensation 
resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  earth,  must  have  originally 
been  nearly  of  the  same  shape  and  circumference  with  the 
present  orbit  of  the  earth.  Now,  the  earth's  orbit  is  not  an 
exact  circle,  but  an  ellipse,  with  the  sun  in  one  of  its  foci. 
Consequently,  at  the  separation  of  the  materials  of  this  ring 
or  cycloid  at  one  part  of  its  rim,  and  their  aggregation  at  the 
opposite  part,  whether  this  occurred  at  the  perihelion  or 
aphelion  point — the  common  mass  thus  formed  must  have 
taken  the  elongated  or  ellipsoidal  shape,  and  preserved  super- 
ficially all  the  general  geometrical  properties  of  the  previous 
circumsolar  zone,  on  a  reduced  scale. 

The  first  distinct  form  assumed  by  the  materials  of  our 


AND     MOON.  133 

nascent  planet,  therefore,  must  have  been  that  of  an  ellipsoid, 
or,  perhaps,  more  properly  speaking,  that  of  an  egg  somewhat 
flattened  in  the  direction  of  its  shorter  diameter.  The  two 
ends  of  this  ellipsoidal  body,  preserving,  respectively,  the 
general  qualities  of  what  were  its  aphelion  and  perihelion 
points  when,  during  its  previous  and  higher  state  of  diffusion, 
it  encircled  the  sun,  must  now  sustain  toward  each  other  the 
relations  of  positive  and  negative.*  The  atoms  having  the 
strongest  affinity  for  the  positive  influence,  therefore,  would 
naturally  flow  toward  the  positive  end ;  and  those  having  the 
strongest  affinity  for  the  negative  influence  would  flow  toward 
the  negative  end.  There  would,  therefore,  be  a  tendency  of 
the  particles  to  agglomerate  and  condense  in  the  form  of  a 
separate  nucleus  near  either  end  of  the  general  body,  or,  more 
accurately  speaking,  probably  in  either  focus  of  the  ellipse.  If 
the  particles  are  sufficiently  diverse  from  each  other  as  to  their 
extreme  degrees  of  positiveness  or  negativeness,  and  other 
circumstances  are  favorable,  the  tendencies  to  agglomeration 
and  condensation  at  these  two  points,  may  result  in  the  forma- 
tion of  a  primary  planet  and  a  satellite;  or,  if  there  are 
several  degrees  of  matter  widely  distinguished  by  their  rela- 
tively positive  and  negative  qualities,  a  correspondingly  com- 
plicated operation  of  the  same  principles  and  forces,  may  re- 
sult in  the  formation  of  several  satellites. 

The  idea  of  a  tendency  to,  and  condensation  in,  the  foci  of 
the  egg-shaped  nebulous  mass,  thus  forming  a  primary  and  a 
satellite,  and  that  this  tendency  indicates  a  laiv,  is  in  precise 

*  In  employing  the  terms  "  positive"  and  "  negative,"  as  above,  it  is  not  intended  to 
restrict  the  idea  of  the  polar  relations  which  they  express,  to  a  connection  with  elec- 
tricity or  magnetism.  These  relations  may  be  supposed,  in  some  sense,  to  subsist  be- 
tween the  two  extremes  in  the  development  of  each  of  the  imponderables.  Keichen- 
bach,  as  we  have  seen,  found  unmistakable  indications  of  these  polar  relations  existing 
in  the  "  odio"  element,  with  its  different  varieties,  by  him  discovered. 

12 


134:  OEIGIN     OF     THE     EARTH. 

accordance  with,  and  explains,  the  fact,  universal  in  the  solar 
system,  and  doubtless  in  other  departments  of  the  cosmical 
creation,  that  when  bodies  (whether  planets  or  satellites)  re- 
volve in  elliptical  orbits,,  their  primaries,  or  centers  of  gravity, 
are  invariably  situated  in  one  of  the  foci  of  the  ellipse,  pre- 
cisely where,  according  to  our  theory,  such  bodies  must,  in  all 
probability,  have  been  originally  formed.  It  may  be  added 
that,  of  the  fact  of  this  focality  in  the  situation  of  primaries 
with  reference  to  the  elliptic  orbits  of  their  secondaries,  no 
other  hypothesis  than  the  general  one  now  under  consideration 
affords  the  slightest  explanation. 

Considering  the  earth  and  the  moon  as  having,  in  this  way, 
been  formed  respectively  by  condensations  in  the  foci  of  the 
same  original  nebulous  mass,  their  origin  and  relations  may 
be  considered  as  hinting  at,  if  not  exactly  representing,  the 
origin  and  relations  of  the  two  bodies  of  what  are  called 
double  stars,  or  binary  systems.  The  diversity  of  colors  gene- 
rally observed  as  characterizing  the  two  constituents  of  such 
systems — the  larger  body  being,  in  most  cases,  relatively  red, 
and  the  smaller  relatively  blue,  as  though  they  had  divided 
the  prismatic  colors  between  them — strongly  intimates,  of  it- 
self, something  like  a  polar  opposition  in  the  materials  of  which 
they  are  respectively -composed,  and  gives  additional  weight 
to  the  hypothesis  of  their  original  and  nebulous  connection. 

The  hypothesis  of  an  original  union  in  one  nebulous  body 
of  the  materials  of  the  earth  and  moon,  seems,  indeed,  to  bo 
necessary,  if  there  is  admitted  to  be  any  truth  in  the  nebular 
theory.  But,  if  this  hypothesis  is  true,  it  suggests  a  connec- 
tion of  a  nature  heretofore  little  suspected,  as  even  now  sub- 
sisting between  the  earth  and  moon.  Taken  in  connection 
with  our  doctrine  of  constant  emanation,  as  well  as  constant 
gravitation,  of  particles  governed  by  the  laws  of  assimilation, 


ETHEREAL     ENVELOPE.  135 

elimination,  and  polarization,  it  encourages,  if  possible,  even 
more  than  a  suspicion,  that  the  earth  and  moon  are  but  con- 
densed and  oppositely  polarized  points  in  one  common  mass 
of  ethereal,  magnetoid,  or  "  odic"  substance.  Such  an  ethereal 
mass,  considered  ,as  the  common  calorific,  photic,  electric,  odic, 
nervoid,  and  vital  sphere  or  atmosphere  of  the  earth  and  moon, 
would  seem  to  be  a  necessary  existence,  according  to  princi- 
ples involved  in  the  discoveries  of  Reichenbach ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  and  in  a  still  more  emphatic  sense,  the  earth  and 
moon  in  their  present  state,  may  be  supposed  to  consist  of 
precipitated  particles  originally  held  in  solution  in  their  now 
enveloping  ethereal  and  imponderable  menstruum.* 

This  field  or  realm  of  segregated  ether  supporting  these 
now  condensed  points,  may,  in  its  present  state,  be  considered 
as  an  ultimate  refinement  of  the  primeval  nebulous  mass  from 
which  our  world  and  its  satellite  had  their  common  origin. 
Though  its  ultimate  attenuations,  intercommingling  with  those 
of  kindred  bodies  (yet  still  preserving  their  identity)  may  be 
supposed  to  extend  indefinitely  into  space,  the  relatively  dense, 


*  It  is  well  known  that  particular  positions  of  the  moon  in  respect  to  the  earth,  are 
accompanied  with  marked  effects  upon  somnambulists,  cataleptics,  and  persons  dis- 
posed to  insanity ;  and  it  has  from  time  immemorial  been  'bdieced  that  certain  lunar 
positions  have  also  a  decided  influence  upon  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms. 
During  eclipses  of  the  sun,  when  the  moon  has  been  directly  between  that  luminary 
and  the  earth,  hungry  animals  have  been  observed  to  suddenly  cease  eating,  and  become 
apparently  sad  and  dejected ;  and  when  eclipses  have  been  total,  birds  have  sometimes 
been  known  to  fall  dead  from  their  perches.  Now,  neither  of  these  effects  can  be  sup- 
posed to  result  from  any  modification  of  the  force  of  gravitation  as  owing  to  the  rela- 
tive positions  in  such  cases,  of  the  earth,  moon,  and  sun.  But  if  we  suppose,  as  is  sup- 
posed above,  that  the  earth  and  moon  are  enveloped  in  a  common  "  odic"  sphere  of  a 
nervoid  and  semi-vital  character,  and  that  this  changes  in  its  polar  relations  and  con- 
sequent qualities  of  influence  upon  living  organisms,  with  every  change  of  relative 
position  of  the  earth,  moon,  and  sun,  we  have  an  easy  solution  of  the  phenomena  in 
question.  The  supposition  of  such  a  change  of  influence  would  seem  to  be  counte- 
nanced by  the  results  of  Reichenbach's  experiment  with  the  revolving  magnet,  before 
Bpoken  of. 


136  OKI  GIN     OF     THE     EAETII. 

or  the  rationally  more  obvious,  portion  of  the  body,  still  re- 
tains, in  all  probability,  the  general  shape  and  size  of  the 
original  nebula.  If  we  suppose  this  spheroid  of  imponderable 
matter  to  be  rotating  on  its  own  proper  axis  once  in  twenty- 
seven  days,  seven  hours,  and  forty-three  minutes,  carrying  the 
earth  and  moon  with  it  as  its  condensed  foci,  we  have,  in  such 
supposition,  an  explanation  of  the  motion  of  the  moon  round 
the  earth  as  it  appears  to  us,  and  of  the  motion  of  the  earth 
around  the  moon  as  it  would  be  mathematically  evident  to  an 
inhabitant  of  the  latter  body.  If  this  supposition  is  correct, 
then  neither  body  ought  to  move  round  the  other  as  an  abso- 
lutely fixed  point  in  the  system,  but  both  ought  to  revolve 
around  a  common  center — the  axis  of  their  common  ethereal 
and  enveloping  mass.  But,  considering  the  superior  attractive 
force  of  the  earth  over  the  moon,  together  with  the  superior 
density  of  that  whole  end  of  the  ethereal  mass  in  which  the 
earth  is  situated,  to  that  of  the  end  in  which  the  moon  is 
situated,  this  center  of  common  revolution  can  probably  vary 
at  most  but  a  few  hundred  miles  from  the  center  of  the  earth, 
and  may  be  very  nearly  coincident  with  it. 

I  believe  that  astronomers  are  now  pretty  generally  con- 
vinced that  in  binary  stellar  systems,  one  body  not  only 
revolves  around  the  other,  but  that  the  two  bodies  revolve 
round  a  common  center,  situated  somewhere  between  the 
centers  of  the  two,  and  nearest  to  the  center  of  the  larger  one ; 
and  to  these  motions,  those  of  the  binary  system  of  the  earth 
and  moon  would,  according  to  the  foregoing  hypothesis,  pre- 
sent an  exact  analogy. 

The  earth,  being  the  major  or  positive  focal  condensation  of 
the  general  ethereal  and  enveloping  spheroid,  has  asumed 
sufficient  independence  to  admit  of  a  diurnal  revolution  on  its 
own  proper  axes ;  but  the  moon,  being  the  minor  and  nega- 


HINT     CONCERNING     TIDES.  137 

tive  focus,  still  continues  in  subjection  t6  the  force  of  the 
general  ethereal  mass  which  is  positive  over  it ;  and  therefore, 
keeping  the  same  side  always  to  the  earth,  it  rotates  only  with 
the  rotation  of  the  general  mass. 

If  our  hypothesis  is  correct,  then  not  only  ought  the  sides 
of  the  moon  turned  to  and  from  the  earth,  to  be  in  opposite 
polar  relations,  but  there  should  be  a  slight  elongation  of  the 
moon  in  the  same  direction,  presenting,  in  fact,  the  dwindled 
and  miniature  form  of  the  original  nebulous  or  present 
ethereal  spheroid.  On  the  same  principle  there  must,  have 
been  a  tendency  to  elongation  in  the  form  of  the  earth,  while 
the  particles  which  compose  it  were  in  process  of  aggregation. 
This  tendency,  however,  so  far  as  the  solid,  or  less  mobile  ma- 
terials of  the  earth  are  concerned,  was  corrected  by  its  ro- 
tation on  its  axis,  by  the  perpetual  action  of  which,  during 
the  period  in  which  the  earth  passed  from  a  fluid  to  a  super- 
ficially solid  state,  the  surface  of  the  earth  was  rolled  into 
general  rotundity.  But  the  mobility  of  the  watery  portions 
of  the  earth's  surface,  was  such  as  to  preserve,  in  a  degree, 
their  freedom  to  observe  the  original  tendency  to  ellipticity, 
which  tendency  is  now  manifested  in  the  form  of  tides.  For 
tides  are  only  elongations  of  the  mobile  portions  of  the  earth's 
substance,  in  what  we  have  supposed  to  be  the  direction  of 
the  longer  axis  of  the  ethereal  spheroid,  which  axis  would 
necessarily  be  in  the  direction  of  the  earth  and  moon,  admit- 
ting these  bodies,  as  points  of  condensation  in  the  general 
body,  to  occupy  generally  the  two  foci  of  the  latter.  There 
are,  doubtless,  for  the  same  reasons,  atmospheric  tides  which 
are  greater  than  the  oceanic  tides  in  proportion  to  the  greater 
mobility  of  the  atmospheric  particles ;  and  had  not  the  earth 
assumed  a  rotatory  motion  (from  causes  identical  with  those 
which  produced  a  similar  motion  in  other  bodies,  and  which 


138  ORIGIN     OF     THE     EARTH 

have  been  before  explained),  it  would  doubtless  have  con- 
densed (as  we  have  supposed  the  moon  to  have  done),  in  a 
permanently  oval  form,  whose  opposite  ends  would,  if  the 
expression  may  be  allowed,  have  represented  solidified 
tides.* 

With  the  evolutions  and  condensations  above  supposed,  or, 
at  least,  with  something  not  essentially  differing  from  them, 
the  materials  of  which  our  earth  is  composed,  may  be  sup- 
posed to  have  passed  out  of  their  first  or  chaotic  state. 

2.  The  SECOND  stage  of  the  earth's  developments,  as  ob- 
viously the  next  orderly  stage  of  progression  from  the  first, 
was  that  of  a  spheroidal  igneous  nucleus.     This  stage,  indeed, 
commenced  the  moment  the  nucleus  began  to  appear;  for 
then  the  general  body,  by  the  distinction  developed  in  its 
parts,  began  to  pass  out  of  the  state  of  absolute  chaos.     It 
may  be  considered  that  this  development  closed  when  the 
outer  limits  of  this  igneous  nucleus  became  distinctly  defined, 
and  when  its  merely  molten  and  fluid  substance  became  fully 
distinguished  from  its  gaseous  envelope.f 

3.  The  THIRD  stage  may  be  denominated  the  granite-aqueous, 
it  being  the  stage  characterized  by  the  formation  of  the  first 
granite  crust,  and  by  the  development  of  the  oceans  by  which 
the  latter  was  generally  covered.     This,  completing  as  it  did 
the  first  Trinity  of  terrestrial  developments,  brought  the  earth 
from  a  previously  elastic  and  yielding,  to  a  solid  and  perma- 

*  These  suggestions,  tending,  as  they  do,  to  an  essential  modification  of  the  New- 
tonian theory  of  tides,  might  be  greatly  fortified  by  additional  considerations ;  but  to 
present  these  in  their  proper  force,  discussions  would  be  required  which  would  be  too 
occult  for  a  popular  treatise. 

t  The  foregoing  considerations  in  respect  to  the  first  and  second  stages  of  the  earth's 
formation,  are  admitted  to  be  mainly  a  priori,  but  to  those  who  can  perceive  effects 
as  involved  in  their  causes,  they  will  not  be  without  weight  In  respect  to  the  remain- 
ing stages  of  development,  we  will  not  only  have  the  evidence  of  copses,  but  of  their 
fjfects,  as  still  observable  in  the  earth's  crust. 


EAKLY     ATMOSPHERIC     CONDITIONS.       139 

• 

nent  state,  and  thus  completed  its  constitution  merely  as  a 
planetary  body. 

4.  The  FOURTH  stage  was  characterized  mainly  by  aerial  de- 
velopments and  changes.  It  embraces  that  vast  period  during 
which  the  rocks  of  the  Cambrian,  Silurian,  Old  Red  Sandstone, 
and  Carboniferous  systems  were  formed.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  this  period,  the  atmosphere  must  of  necessity  have 
been  in  an  exceedingly  crude  and  impure  state.  Besides  other 
gross  and  noxious  elements,  it  must  have  borne  in  its  bosom 
all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  carbonic  acid  gas  which  subsequently 
became  condensed  in  the  mountain  limestone  and  various 
other  limestone  deposits,  and  the  carbon  of  which,  parting  with 
its  oxygen,  became  embodied  in  the  immense  beds  of  mineral 
coal,  found,  more  or  less,  in  almost  every  quarter  of  the  earth. 
An  atmosphere  thus  surcharged  with  this  noxious  vapor,  must 
have  been  incompatible  with  the  existence  of  any  forms  of 
organic  life,  except  those  of  a  low  order;  and  accordingly  we 
find  that  the  plants  and  animals  of  this  vast  period  were,  as 
shown  by  their  fossil  remains,  exclusively  such  as  inhabited 
the  ocean  and  the  marshy  and  frequently  submerged  places  in 
its  vicinity — situations  intermediate  between  the  properly 
marine  and  the  properly  terrestrial. 

It  was,  doubtless,  owing  mainly,  if  not  wholly,  to  atmos- 
pheric causes  that  the  solar  rays  during  this  period  had  but 
little  influence  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  that  a  nearly 
uniform  temperature  prevailed  at  all  latitudes  and  at  all  sea- 
sons. Geologists  have  usually  attempted  to  account  for  the 
high  degree  and  general  uniformity  of  this  temperature,  as 
indicated  by  the  universally  tropical  nature  of  the  plants  and 
animals  of  this  period,  by  referring  it  to  a  radiation  of  the 
internal  heat  of  the  earth,  which  it  is  supposed  must,  at  that 
early  period,  have  been  much  more  intense  than  in  subsequent 


14:0  ORIGIN     OF     THE     EARTH. 

times.  But  the  mystery  seems  to  be  quite  as  well,  if  not  bet- 
ter, accounted  for  in  the  consideration  that  while  the  atmos- 
phere was  so  excessively  dense  as  it  must  have  been  while 
loaded  with  so  much  carbon  and  carbonic  acid,  its  pressure 
must  have  been  correspondingly  great ;  and  it  is  well  known 
that  every  increase  of  atmospheric  pressure  is  attended  with  an 
increase  of  heat.  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  both 
of  these  causes  had  something  to  do  in  the  production  of  the 
superior  heat  of  these  times. 

The  scene  which  would  have  been  presented  to  a  human 
spectator,  could  such  an  one  have  been  placed  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  at  this  time,  would  have  been  gloomy  and 
cheerless  in  the  extreme.  He  would  probably  at  no  time  have 
beheld  either  clouds  or  decided  sunshine,  but  a  dim  and  unde- 
fined luminescence,  caused  by  the  sunbeams  in  passing  athwart 
the  thick  and  stagnant  atmosphere.  No  star-beam  could  have 
penetrated  the  dense  aerial  envelope  to  relieve  the  gloom  of 
night ;  and,  for  the  same  reason,  the  range  of  horizontal  vision, 
even  at  noonday,  must  have  been  confined  within  narrow 
limits.  All  diversity  of  landscape  must,  in  the  earlier  part 
of  this  period,  have  been  merged  in  one  wide  waste  of  waters. 
This,  however,  was,  in  later  times,  partially  relieved  by  exten- 
sive districts  of  low,  marshy  land,  on  which  the  soft  and  suc- 
culent vegetation  grew  with  the  rankest  luxuriance.  No  bird 
yet  winged  the  air,  or  gladdened  the  forest  with  its  song ;  no 
beast  prowled  through  the  thick  jungles  of  fern  and  sigillaria, 
and  no  herds  lowed  upon  the  fields  of  moss  and  equiseta;  and, 
except  the  rolling  of  the  ocean  waves,  the  plashing  of  the  finny 
tribe,  and  the  occasional  rumblings  of  subterranean  fires,  the 
most  profound  and  gloomy  silence  reigned  over  the  face  of  the 
globe ! 

If,  therefore,  in  the  first  stage  of  the  first  Trinity  of  devel- 


NEW     KED     SANDSTONE. 

opments,  the  whole  mass  of  terrestrial  materials  was  in  a  state 
that  may  be  designated  as  chaotic,  we  find  here,  in  the  first 
stage  of  the  second  Trinity,  a  corresponding  condition  as  re- 
lating to  the  whole  mass  of  atmospheric  materials,  and  of  its 
accompanying  developments  as  the  initial  steps  of  terrestrial 
organic  creation.  Taken  as  a  whole,  however,  the  changes  of 
this  period  brought  conditions  on  the  earth's  surface  into 
something  like  a  systematic,  or  what  may  be  called  rudiment- 
ally  organized,  form. 

5.  The  FIFTH  development  was  characterized  by  distinction 
of  climates  as  prevailing  in  different  latitudes,  and  by  warm 
and  cold  seasons,  as  owing  to  the  revolution  of  our  planet 
around  the  sun ;  hence,  also,  by  new  kinds  of  geological  de- 
posits, and  higher  degrees  of  organic  life.  This  development 
was  comprised  in  the  period  commencing  with  the  New  Red 
Sandstone,  and  ending  with  the  close  of  the  Chalk  formation. 

The  records  of  the  general  conditions  of  this  period  are  very 
distinctly  preserved  upon  the  leaves  of  the  rocky  book.  On 
the  lamina)  of  the  New  Red  Sandstone  rocks  in  various 
localities  (and  especially  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut 
River),  are  found  the  distinct  footprints  of  birds  of  various 
species.  These  appear  to  have  been  impressed  upon  the  sandy 
and  clayey  margin  of  an  ocean  at  low  tide,  and  to  have  been 
covered  up  by  successive  thin  layers  of  sand  and  clay  drifted 
in  by  the  swelling  tide.  On  the  same  rocks  occur  marks  whose 
angles  and  other  characteristics  clearly  prove  them  to  have 
been  made  by  frost.  They  are  in  form  exactly  identical  with 
those  which  are  now  produced  by  frost  in  the  mud  upon  the 
borders  of  a  stream.  These  appear  to  have  been  covered  over 
and  preserved,  in  like  manner  with  the  tracks,  by  the  detritus 
swept  in  by  the  returning  tide.  But  it  is  noteworthy  that, 
although  these  tracks  and  frost  marks  occur  in  abundance 


14:2  ORIGIX     OF     THE     E  A  II  Til . 

above  and  below  each  other  in  the  same  system  of  rocks,  the 
two  are  never  found  upon  the  same  laminar— as  though  the 
birds,  during  the  frosty  season,  were  entirely  absent,  having 
migrated  to  a  warmer  climate,  to  return  again  with  the  return 
of  summer. 

On  the  same  strata  are  also  sometimes  found  impressions 
which  could  only  have  been  made  by  the  pattering  of  rain- 
drops during  the  passage  of  a  small  shower-cloud ;  and  the 
forms  of  these  sometimes  even  infallibly  indicate  the  course 
in  which  the  wind  was  blowing  at  the  time ! 

Here,  then,  is  the  earliest  distinct  indication  of  the  preva- 
lence of  atmospheric  conditions  somewhat  similar  ito  tliose 
which  now  obtain  upon  the  earth's  surface.  We  find,  here, 
unmistakable  evidences  of  summer  and  winter,  warm  and  cold 
latitudes,  rain,  winds,  clouds,  and  sunshine — conditions  which 
clearly  could  not  have  existed  to  any  great  extent,  during  any 
previous  period. 

Concerning  the  relics  of  the  olden  time,  from  which  these 
atmospheric  and  terrestrial  conditions  are  inferred,  Professor 
Hitchcock  (to  whom  the  scientific  world  is  much  indebted  for 
bringing  them  to  light)  remarks :  "  It  is  a  most  interesting 
thought,  that  while  millions  of  men,  who  have  striven  hard  to 
transmit  some  trace  of  their  existence  to  future  generations, 
have  sunk  into  utter  oblivion,  the  simple  footsteps  of  animals 
that  existed  thousands,  nay,  tens  of  thousands,  of  years  ago, 
should  remain  as  fresh  and  distinct  as  if  yesterday  impressed, 
even  though  nearly  every  other  vestige  of  their  existence  has 
vanished.  Nay,  still  more  strange  is  it,  that  even  the  patter- 
ing of  a  shower  at  that  distant  period,  should  have  left  marks 
equally  distinct,  and  registered  with  infallible  certainty  the 
direction  of  the  wind."* 

*  Hitchcock's  Geology,  p.  155. 


FIEST     MAMMALIA.  143 

The  terrestrial  animals  of  this  period  were  almost  exclu- 
sively oviparous,  partaking  largely  of  the  sauroidal,  or  lizard- 
like  type,  which  latter  remark- is  even  applicable  to  the  birds. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  period,  however,  an  animal  appeared 
which  may  be  regarded  as  a  transition  link  between  the 
oviparous  and  viviparous.  It  was  an  animal  of  the  class  Mar- 
supialia;  in  other  words,  an  animal  with  a  pouch,  like  that  of 
the  opossum,  or  kangaroo,  in  which  it  sheltered  and  nour- 
ished its  young  for  a  season  after  their  birth,  the  same 
being  yet  too  feeble  and  imperfectly  developed  to  endure 
exposure  to  the  outer  elements.  It  has  hence  been  remarked 
that,  "  though  the  young  of  this  animal  were  born  alive,  they 
were  only  half  born,  as  it  were,"  and  needed  a  kind  of  sup- 
plementary gestation  to  fit  them  for-  life  in  the  external 
world. 

Like  the  fifth  development  or  member  of  every  other  seven- 
fold series,  therefore,  this  is  characterized  by  the  assumption  of 
distinctness,  or  partition,  in  forms  and  gradations  of  forms, 
from  a  state  of  previous  and  comparative  indistinctness.  The 
principle  of  segregation  is  here  distinctly  observed,  the  same 
as  it  was  in  the  fifth  stage  of  the  universal  creation.  Each 
one  of  these  forms,  being  yet  transitional  and  incomplete,  is, 
as  it  were,  a  nucleated  point  in  the  previously  chaotic  materials 
and  their  involved  principles ;  and  therefore  the  whole  devel- 
opment, being  the  second  of  the  Secondary  Trinity,  has  a  cer- 
tain correspondence  to  the  second  of  the  Primary  Trinity, 
which  was  characterized  by  a  nucleation  of  the  materials  of 
the  earth  as  a  whole. 

6.  The  SIXTH  stage  of  the  earth's  formation  was  comprised 
in  the  whole  period  commonly  termed  the  Tertiary  and  Dilu- 
vial periods.  It  commenced  immediately  after  that  remark- 
able marine,  terrestrial,  and  atmospheric  change  which  must 


144  ORIGIN     OF     THE     EAKTH. 

necessarily  have  accompanied  the  great  Chalk  formation,  and 
closed  immediately  prior  to  the  commencement  of  the  present 
or  Alluvial  period.  It  was  distinguished  from  the  previous 
stage  of  terrestrial  developments,  mainly  by  its  lacustrine, 
volcanic,  and  fluvatile  conditions,  and  by  the  erosive,  leveling, 
and  harmonizing  operations  which,  especially  near  the  close  of 
the  period,  occurred  on  the  earth's  surface.  These  conditions 
were  evidently  an  improvement  upon  previous  ones.  The 
earth  became  more  extensively  diversified  by  mountains  and 
valleys,  forests,  fields,  and  running  streams.  The  quantity  of 
upland  and  fertile  soil  was  greatly  increased ;  the  atmosphere 
was  freed  from  previous  pestilential  vapors ;  the  climates  were 
rendered  more  salubrious,  and  all  things  were  more  compat- 
ible with  the  existence  of  higher  species  in  the  organic  king- 
doms. Accordingly,  even  in  the  lower  strata  of  this  formation, 
there  are  found  the  remains  of  animals  of  decidedly  mam- 
miferous  species.  These  are  of  the  order  Pachydermata 
(thick-skinned),  and  of  comparatively  low  organization.  But  as 
conditions  advanced  and  new  strata  were  deposited,  higher 
species  successively  made  their  appearance,  organic  life  all  the 
while  assuming  more  analogy  to  existing  types,  until,  toward 
the  close  of  the  period,  there  was,  in  many  instances,  an  actual 
shading  off  into  species  which  now  inhabit  the  earth.  This 
latter  remark  is  equally  applicable  to  the  vegetable,  as  it  is  to 
the  animal,  kingdom. 

About  the  close  of  this  period,  there  appears  to  have  been 
a  remarkable  fall  of  atmospheric  temperature,  accompanied 
by  a  submergence  of  the  greater  portion  of  land  in  the 
northern  and  temperate  regions,  in  seas  filled  with  floating 
icebergs.  These  icebergs,  frequently  reaching  to  the  bottom 
of  the  ocean,  have  scraped  along  over  the  earth's  surface, 
clashed  violently  against  its  prominences,  torn  fragments  of 


DILUVIAL     AGENCY.  145 

rock  from  their  original  beds,  pushed  them  along  before  them, 
the  friction  rounding  off  their  angles,  and  reducing  many  of 
them  to  sand  and  pebbles.  Sometimes  large  masses  of  rock 
would  get  wedged  in  between,  or  thrown  upon  the  tops  of, 
blocks  or  projections  of  ice,  and  would  be  floated  to  great  dis- 
tances and  scattered  over  the  country.  Boulder  rocks  which 
must  have  been  transported  in  some  such  way,  have  been 
identified  with  rocks  "in  place"'  to  which  they  must  have  orig- 
inally belonged,  from  a  few  hundred  yards  to  several  hundred 
miles  to  the  north  of  where  they  were  found.  Sometimes 
boulders  of  great  magnitude  have  been  carried  over  steep  and 
high  mountains,  and  are  not  unfrequently  found  lodged  upon 
their  summits  and  scattered  over  their  southern  declivities ; 
and  the  long-continued  passage  of  rocky  fragments  and  detri- 
tus transported  in  this  way,  has  worn  scratches,  and  sometimes 
deep  groves  in  the  mountain  rock,  all  of  which  have  the  same 
general  direction,  which  is  nearly  north  and  south — proving 
that  such  was  the  general  direction  of  the  current.  By  this 
operation,  which  was  evidently  long-continued,  rugged  mount- 
ain escarpments  were  reduced;  deep  hollows  were  filled  up, 
and  the  face  of  Nature  was  made  to  assume  fairer  proportions. 
In  short,  the  terrestrial  structure  being  generally  completed, 
this  final  operation  (to  illustrate  a  great  thing  .by  a  diminutive 
comparison)  seems  to  have  been  the  smoothing  and  sand- 
papering process  to  which  it  was  subjected,  before  being 
applied  to  its  ultimate  and  principal  use  as  the  habitation  of 
its  future  tenant,  MAN. 

This  superficial  smootning  and  rounding  of  the  earth,  and 
its  completion  as  a  habitable  globe,  being  the  third  member  of 
the  Secondary  Trinity  of  terrestrial  developments,  manifestly 
bears  a  certain  correspondence  to  the  third  member  of  the 
Primary  Trinity,  or  the  granito-aqueous  development,  which 

13 


14:6  OKI  GIN     OF     THE     EAKTH. 

brought  the  earth  to  completeness,  considered  merely  as  a 
planetary  sphere. 

7.  The  SEVENTH  terrestrial  development,  which  now  ensues, 
is  that  which  is  going  on  at  the  present  time.  It  is  character- 
ized by  sedimentary  deposits  from  existing  waters,  and  by 
the  oceanic,  terrestrial,  and  atmospheric  changes  which  are  now 
imperceptibly  going  on ;  and  its  ushering  in  was  accompanied 
by  the  introduction  of  MAN,  together  with  most  of  the  animals 
and  plants  of  existing  species.  This,  therefore,  is  the  grand 
culminating  point  of  all  terrestrial  creations,  and  brings  the 
seven-fold  progressive  series  to  a  completion.  It  is  the  grand 
point  that  was  aimed  at  in  the  beginning  of  beginnings,  and 
the  great  object  the  accomplishment  of  which  each  inter 
mediate  movement  was  intended  to  subserve ;  and  now  that 
it  is  attained,  the  previous  conflicts  of  elements — the  clashings 
of  an  impetuous  nature,  as  if  reaching  forward  and  striving 
impatiently  for  the  attainment. of  its  final  destiny,  are  lulled 
into  repose.  The  heavings  of  the  earthquake  and  the  spout- 
ings  of  subterranean  fire  through  the  broken  strata  which  were 
so  devastating  in  previous  ages,  have  now  in  a  great  measure 
subsided,  or  occur  only  in  limited  districts  and  at  long  inter- 
vals. Mountain  and  plain,  forest  and  field,  ocean  and  atmos- 
phere now  testify  their  common  satisfaction  with  the  end 
which  has  been  gloriously  achieved;  and  man,  undisturbed, 
proceeds  to  beautify  and  adorn  the  earth,  and,  with  no  other 
interruptions  than  such,  as  are  due  to  his  own  folly,  pursues  his 
rounds  of  progress  toward  a  destiny  still  more  glorious  and 
sublime ! 

Of  course  the  foregoing  remarks  in  reference  to  the  genesis 
of  the  earth,  are  to  be  considered  only  in  the  light  of  a 
general  survey  of  the  subject  to  which  they  relate,  and  as 
being  intended  merely  to  establish  general  principles  and 


OUE     METHOD     AND     CONCLUSIONS.         147 

analogies  to  be  used  as  aids  in  discovering  or  confirming  ul- 
terior and  corresponding  truths.  Such  being  our  main  object, 
\ve  have  abstained  from  descriptions  of  non-essential  minutiae 
which  may  be  found  in  the  geological  books.  We  have,  how- 
ever, recognized  all  facts  which  have  any  essential  bearing  on 
the  subject  of  our  speculations,  and  by  the  aid  of  these  facts, 
and  of  the  general  laws  of  causation  and  analogy  which  govern 
them,  and  necessarily  connect  them  with  corresponding  ante- 
cedents and  sequences,  we  have  inferred  the  'general  nature  of 
those  necessary  links  of  the  system  which  are  lost  to  sensuous 
perception.  Hence  we  have  commenced  with  descriptions  of 
conditions  far  more  primitive  than  those  from  which  geological 
writers  in  general  have  started,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  corre- 
spondences existing  between  one  system  of  developments  and 
.another,  as  exhibited  in  the  law  of  the  seven-fold  series,  ~we 
have  endeavored  to  exhibit  the  roots  of  the  tree  of  Geology 
as  growing  upon  the  soil  of  Astronomy. 

If  the  whole  subject,  as  thus  unfolded^  exhibits  a  self-sup- 
porting and  self-proving  consistency,  it  in  no  small  degree 
tends  to  establish  the  correctness  and  importance  of  the  method 
of  reasoning  from  which  it  receives  its  support. 


CHAPTEE   XIII. 

THE   GEOLOGICAL   AND   MOSAIC   EEVELATIONS. 

ONE  of  the  first  thoughts  which  strikes  the  mind  as  it  con- 
templates the  foregoing  view  of  the  natural  history  of  our 
planet  is,  that  the  developments  spoken  of  could  have  been 
accomplished  only  in  periods  too  vast  for  human  conception. 
Admitting  that  the  process  of  unfolding  which  finally  resulted 
in  bringing  our  globe  to  its  present  habitable  and  mature 
state,  commenced  when  its  materials  were  all  in  a  state  of  dif- 
fused igneous  gas,  it  is  utterly  beyond  the  power  of  man  to 
conceive  the  period  which  must  thence  have  elapsed  before 
these  materials  were  so  far  contracted  as  to  admit  of  the  first 
superficial  granitic  incrustation.  But  after  these  untold 
myriads  of  ages  had  quietly  rolled  into  the  depths  of  the  past, 
sedimentary  materials,  which,  according  to  statements  of  Dr. 
John  Pye  Smith,  as  the  results  of  careful  measurements,  must 
have  had  an  aggregate  thickness  of  not  less  than  twenty  miles, 
took  place,  for  the  most  part  quietly,  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean.  These  materials,  including  the  remains  of  plants  and 
animals  of  now  extinct  species,  and  whole  races  of  which  were 
successively  brought  into  being  and  swept  away,  were  after- 
ward slowly  consolidated  into  the  form  of  the  existing  fossillif- 
erous  rocks. 

As  to  the  number  of  years  or  centuries  which  must  have 
elapsed  during  this  mighty  operation,  we  have  the  means  of 


ANTIQUITY     OF     OUR     GLOBE.  149 

making,  in  our  calculations,  only  a  remote  and  indefinite  ap- 
proximation. During  comparatively  short  periods  of  violent 
physical  revolution,  conglomerates  and  other  coarse  and  indis- 
tinctly stratified  rocks  may,  in  some  instances,  have  been  de- 
posited with  comparative  rapidity.  Older  rocks  were  prob- 
ably disintegrated  by  the  combined  agency  of  heat  and  water, 
and  ground  to  fragments  by  volcanic  and  marine  agitation ; 
and,  by  violent  currents,  probably  thus  generated,  they  may 
have  been  carried  to  lower  levels,  and  sometimes  formed  thick 
deposits  in  comparatively  short  periods.  But  these  instances 
are  only  exceptions  to  the  general  rule,  while  far  the  greater 
proportion  of  the  stratified  rocks  present  unmistakable  evi- 
dence of  having  been  deposited  in  quiet  waters.  And  these 
deposits  could  not,  in  general,  have  accumulated  much  more 
rapidly  than  similar  ones  which  are  going  on  at  the  present 
time.  Now,  it  is  said  that  the  lakes  of  Scotland  shoal,  by 
sedimentary  depositions,  only  at  the  rate  of  about  six  inches 
in  a  century.*  Making  all  reasonable  allowance  for  the  su- 
perior activity  of  early  disintegrating  and  depositing  forces, 
the  period  which  must  have  been  consumed  during  the  depo- 
sition of  materials  which  have  formed  rocks  of  twenty  miles 
in  perpendicular  thickness,  can  be  estimated  only  by  millions 
of  years,  especially  when  we  take  into  account  the  long 
periods  of  super-marine  elevation  and  repose  which  sometimes 
must  have  intervened  between  the  close  of  one  formation  and 
the  commencement  of  the  succeeding  one. 

Our  conception  of  the  immensity  of  the  periods  of  these  de- 
posits is  augmented  when  we  consider  that  beds  of  rocks 
of  great  thickness,  and  sometimes  whole  mountains,  many 
thousand  feet  high,  are  made  up  almost  entirely  of  sea-shells 
and  other  organic  matter — these  mountains  having  originally 

*  Hitchcock's  Geology,  p.  163. 


150  GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 

constituted  the  sea-beds,  from  which  position  they  were  sub 
sequently  elevated  by  subterranean  forces.  The  animals  and 
plants,  whose  remains  are  thus  preserved,  "  must  have  lived 
and  died  "  (says  Professor  Hitchcock)  "  on  or  near  the  spot 
where  they  are  found ;  while  it  was  cmly  now  and  then  that 
there  was  current  enough  to  drift  them  any  considerable 
distance,  or  break  them  into  fragments ;  *  *  *  and  frequently 
all  the  shells  found  in  a  layer  of  rock,  lie  in  the  same  position 
which  similar  shells  now  assume  upon  the  bottom  of  ponds, 
lakes,  and  the  ocean ;  that  is,  with  a  particular  part  of  the 
shell  uppermost."* 

Nor  will  we  be  astonished  at  these  evidences  of  the  high 
antiquity  of  our  globe,  when  we  consider  the  immense  periods 
which  seem  to  be  consumed  in  its  appointed  movements  in 
space.  For  if  there  is  any  dependence  to  be  placed  upon  the 
observations  and  mathematical  reasonings  of  Maedler  and 
others,  the  whole  solar  system  is  rapidly  moving  around  a  re- 
mote center,  in  an  orbit  so  vast,  that  a  single  revolution  can 
not  be  accomplished  in  less  than  eighteen  millions  of  years ! 
Considering  this  period  as  the  annus  magnus,  or  great  year  of 
our  planet  and  the  family  of  orbs  to  which  it  belongs,  it  may 
have  accomplished  several  of  these  grand  revolutions  since  it 
assumed  an  individual  existence,  and  still  be  only  in  the  first 
years  of  its  existence — an  existence  which  may  continue 
through  as  many  such  revolutions  as  there  are  days  or  hours 
'in  the  ordinary  life  of  man!  In  fact,  in  the  development  of 
the  plans  of  an  infinite  God,  who  has  a  whole  eternity  as  his 
working  period,  it  may  emphatically  be  said,  that  "  a  thousand 
years  are  but  as  one  day." 

But  these  wonderful  deductions  from  scientific  facts  have 

*  Hitchcock's  Geology,  p.  88, 90 ;  also,  Silliman's  Appendix  to  Bakewell's  Geology, 
p.5i4. 


T  BUT  IIS     MUST     II  A  E  M  O  BT I  Z  E  .  151 

given  alarm  to  many  theologians,  who  have  considered  them 
as  conflicting  with  the  Mosaic  account  of  creation,  as  recorded 
in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  This  account  has  by  them 
been  considered  as  circumscribing  the  period  of  creation  to  six 
literal  days,  during  which  it  is  supposed,  that  not  only  the 
earth  and  all  it  contains,  but  the  sun  and  planets,  if  not  even 
the  fixed  stars,  were  brought  into  being.  They  have  hence 
looked  upon  the  statements  and  speculations  of  geologists 
with  disfavor,  supposing  that  their  tendency  was  to  under- 
mine the  authority  of  the  Bible.  The  present  treatise,  there- 
fore, would  be  incomplete  were  I  pass  over  entirely  unnoticed 
the  question  pending  between  geologists  and  theologians. 
This  question,  however,  I  can  now  only  consider  in  brief,  ex- 
hibiting merely  the  general  aspects  of  the  controversy  as  they 
appear  to  me. 

But  before  entering  directly  into  the  merits  of  the  question, 
I  would  premise  that  all  truths  must  be  consistent  with  each 
other,  whether  found  in  the  Bible  or  in  Nature.  If,  therefore, 
there  is  any  conflict  unmistakably  manifest  between  the  teach- 
ings of  these  two  authorities,  it  inevitably  follows  that  one  or 
the  other  must  be  untrue ;  and  the  untruth  is  most  rationally 
predicable  of  that  which  is  most  liable  to  be  tinctured  by 
human  invention. 

Now,  the  system  of  creation,  though  subjective  and  phe- 
nomenal when  considered  in  relation  to  God,  is  positive  and 
independent  when  considered  in  relation  to  man.  The  pages 
of  the  rocky  book  were  inscribed  by  no  human  amanuensis, 
and  contain  none  of  the  whims  and  errors  of  perverted  human 
thought.  When  correctly  interpreted,  therefore,  they  are  to 
be  relied  on  as  infallible,  and  no  theological  teachings  which 
contradict  them  can  be  considered  as  the  teachings  of  the 
same  God  who  wrote  those  imperishable  pages  with  his  own 


152  GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 

hand.  This  consideration  forces  the  conclusion,  however  re- 
luctant we  may  be  to  admit  it,  that  that  system  of  theology 
which  can  be  thrown  into  a  trepidation  by  the  unfolding  of  a 
fact  in  nature,  and  which,  in  any  case,  treats  with  hostility,  or 
even  with  disrespect,  the  positive  deductions  of  science,  can 
not,  thus  far,  have  any  counterpart  in  the  mind  of  that  Being 
who  is  the  Author  alike  of  nature  and  of  heaven,  and  of  the 
one  harmonious  system  of  truth  which,  in  various  and  cor- 
responding degrees,  pervades  and  constitutes  the  life  and 
law  of  all  things. 

True  theology,  therefore,  has  no  more  favors  to  ask  of  true 
science,  than  the  latter  has  to  ask  of  the  former.  Neither  one 
of  these,  in  any  case,  is  alarmed  by,  but  always  rejoices  in, 
any  additional  development  in  the  other,  because  the  two  are 
brothers  in  affectionate  unity,  and  each  one  contributes  to  the 
other  of  its  own  riches  and  strength,  and  neither  can  languish 
without  weakening  the  other  in  a  corresponding  degree. 

Some  theologians,  desirous  of  maintaining  their  preconceiv- 
ed interpretations  of  the  first  chapter  in  Genesis,  have  argued, 
that  since  it  is  possible  for  God  to  do  all  things,  it  was 
possible  for  him,  with  a  single  stroke  of  his  omnipotent 
power,  to  create  the  myriads  of  sea-shells,  the  impressions  of 
plants,  and  the  skeletons  of  the  higher  animals,  in  their  pro- 
gressive order  of  superposition,  in  the  rocks,  just  as  we  now 
find  them  !  This  might  be  admitted,  if  it  could  first  be  con- 
ceived as  possible  for  God  to  have  had  a  previous  will  and 
purpose  in  the  generation  of  forms  which,  in  such  a  case, 
would  have  been,  to  human  conceptions,  so  evidently  useless  ; 
— and  so,  with  the  same  qualification,  it  may  be  admitted 
that  God  might  have  created  Herculaneum  under  the  beds  of 
lava,  and  the  Egyptian  mummies  in  their  tombs,  just  as  we 
now  find  them : — but  to  consider  it  in  the  least  degree  probable 


PRINCIPLES     OF     INTERPRETATION.       153 

that  God  actually  did  do  either  of  these  things,  would  be  to 
set  all  analogy  at  defiance,  and  to  take  an  everlasting  leave 
of  those  guides  to  truth  to  which  the  human  mind  is  largely 
indebted  for  all  of  its  substantial  progress.  If,  however,  we 
abstain  from  such  a  violation  of  the  God-established  laws  of 
our  rational  nature,  we  must  admit  in  their  full  force  the 
manifest  indications  of  fossilology  and  lithology,  in  reference 
to  the  immense  periods  which  must  have  elapsed  during  the 
genesis  of  our  globe,  and  of  the  various  and  successive  races 
of  living  organisms  by  which  it"  was  tenanted  prior  to  the 
introduction  of  man. 

Having  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  inherent  strength  and 
invulnerability  of  true  theology,  therefore,  we  affirm,  without 
any  delicacy  or  evasion,  that  if  the  six  days  of  creation, 
spoken  of  by  Moses,  mean  only  six  times  twenty-four  hours 
of  our  time,  then  the  chronology  of  the  stages  of  creation,  as 
given  by  him,  is  manifestly  untrue.  But  with  a  perfect 
willingness  to  find  the  account,  true  or  untrue,  as  the  case 
may  be,  let  us  examine  the  account  fearlessly  and  without 
reserve,  and  endeavor  to  discover  its  real  import. 

In  order  to  do  justice  in  our  interpretation  of  any  writer's 
language,  we  must,  of  course,  have  a  due  regard  to  the  mean- 
ing which  context,  the  nature  of  the  subject,  the  circumstances, 
objects,  and  personal  condition,  of  the  writer,  and  the  modes 
of  speech  prevalent  among  the  class  of  writers  to  which  he 
belongs,  conspire  to  fix  upon  his  language.  This  rule  is  so 
obviously  true,  that  no  candid  mind  will  fail  to  recognize  its 
propriety  at  once.  Now,  the  book  of  Genesis  (as  is  the  case 
with  other  books  of  the  Bible)  was  written  in  an  age  and  a 
country  in  which  symbolical  language  was  much  in  vogue.  It 
also  claims,  like  other  sacred  books,  to  have  been  written  by 
a  spiritually  illuminated  person,  and  for  spiritual  purposes ; 


154:  GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 

» 

and,  admitting  these  claims,  its  peculiar  forms  of  thought  and 
expression  must  be  admitted  to  have  been  governed,  to  some 
extent,  by  spiritual  laws ;  and  according  to  these  same  laws, 
therefore,  they  must  be  interpreted.  Now,  one  way,  and,  in 
some  instances,  the  only  feasible  way,  of  conveying  in  human 
language  a  deep  interior  idea  is,  by  presenting  it  in  the  verbal 
imagery  of  some  familiar  exterior  fact,  which  embraces  within 
itself  the  identical  principle  which  is  involved  in  such  interior 
idea.  That  this  rule  was  observed  in  all  the  parabolic,  and 
much  of  the  prophetic  and  descriptive  language  of  the  Bible, 
no  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  contents  of  that  book  can 
deny. 

Now,  let  it  be  observed,  that  if  Moses  himself,  through 
spiritual  or  Divine  impressions,  or  any  other  means,  had  pos- 
sessed any  adequate  idea  of  the  immense  periods  which  Ge 
ology  proves  to  have  elapsed  between  the  commencement  of 
the  creation  of  our  globe  and  the  introduction  of  man  upon  its 
surface,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  him  to  have  con- 
veyed to  the  unenlightened  minds  of  the  semi-barbarians  of  his 
age  and  nation  any  adequate  idea  of  the  actual  truth  of  the 
case ;  and  any  attempt  to  do  this,  would  only  have  been  pro- 
ductive of  misapprehension,  and  would  probably  have  gene- 
rated some  of  the  wildest  forms  of  superstition.  The  probability 
is,  however,  that  Moses  himself  had  no  adequate  conception 
of  the  immensity  of  the  actual  periods  of  creation ;  and  con- 
sidering him,  according  to  his  claims,  as  a  revelator  merely 
of  what  was  revealed  to.  him,  this  admission  may  be  made 
without  affecting  the  truthfulness  of  the  representations  which 
were  by  him  recorded  as  he  himself  received  them. 

These  considerations  strongly  favor  the  belief,  even  a  priori, 
that  any  truthful  record  of  the  natural  history  of  creation 
made  in  those  days,  and  especially  for  spiritual  purposes,  and 


155 

« 

by  a  spiritual  teacher,  would  have  been  couched  in  correspon- 
dential  and  spiritual  language,  by  which  the.  principles  and 
spirit  of  the  immense  truths  more  interiorly  involved,  were 
brought  into  a  diminished  form  of  embodiment,  and  thus 
adapted  to  the  rudimentary  intellects  to  which  they  were  ad- 
dressed. Now,  a  "day"  involves  the  principle  of,  and  hence 
spiritually  means,  one  complete  revolution.  But  as  each  com- 
plete revolution,  whether  requiring  a  long  or  short  period,  only 
involves  the  same  principle  or  spirit,  why  may  not  the  grea-t 
revolutions  or  cycles  of  operation  which  comprise  the  different 
periods  in  our  earth's  physical  history  be,  in  spiritual  language, 
called  so  many  days  1 

That  the  word  "  day"  is,  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  used 
in  this  spiritual  sense,  without  necessarily  signifying  any  thing 
but  the  principle  or  spirit  of  a  day  (or  a  complete  revolution 
of  indefinite  duration),  is  further  evident  from  the  manner  in 
which  the  word  is  used  in  many  other  passages,  not  only  by 
Moses,  but  by  other  sacred  writers.  Thus  we  read  in  Genesis 
ii.  4,  5,  "  These  are  the  generations  of  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  when  they  were  created,  in  THE  DAY  that  the  Lord  God 
made  the  earth  and  the  heavens,  and  every  plant  of  the  field," 
etc.  Here  the  six  minor  revolutions  .or  days  are  comprised  in 
one  grand  revolution  or  day,  in  the  same  way  as  several  small 
circles  or  periods  may  be  comprehended  in  one  large  one. 
The  occurrence  of  the  word  "  day"  in  this  enlarged  sense  here, 
effectually  precludes  the  right  of  every  one  to  circumscribe  its 
meaning  necessarily  to  a  period  of  twenty-four  hours,  as  it  oc- 
curs in  the  previous  chapter  in  reference  to  the  same  subject. 

Among  the  numerous  other  examples  of  a  similar  usage  of 
the  term  "  day,"  which  may  be  found  in  other  portions  of  the 
sacred  writings,  let  the  following  suffice  for  our  present  pur- 
pose :  "  And  in  that  day  there  shall  be  a  root  of  Jesse  which 


156  GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 

P 

shall  stand  as  an  ensign  of  the  people ;  to  it  shall  the  Gentiles 
seek  :  and  his  rest  shall  be  glorious.  And  it  shall  come  to 
pass  in  that  DAY,  that  the  Lord  shall  set  His  hand  again  a 
second  time  to  recover  the  remnant  of  His  people."  (Isa.  xl. 
10,  11.)  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  DAY,  that  the 
mountains  shall  drop  down  new  wine,  and  the  hills  shall  flow 
with  milk."  (Joel  iii.  18.)  And  Jesus  says,  "Abraham  re- 
joiced to  see  my  DAY  ;  and  he  saw  it,  and  was  glad."  (John 
viii.  56.)  In  neither  of  these  passages  is  it  possible  to  restrict 
the  meaning  of  the  word  "  day"  to  the  period  of  the  diurnal 
revolution  of  the  earth.  In  candor,  therefore,  it  must  be 
acknowledged  to  be  at  least  extremely  probable  that  the  word 
"  day"  is  used  in  an  equally  enlarged  and  spiritual  sense  in  the 
equally  spiritual  language  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis — 
especially  as  there  are  so  many  other  facts  and  circumstances 
to  corroborate  such  an  interpretation. 

Considering  the  six  days  of  creation,  then,  as  expressing  six 
periods  of  very  long  duration,  let  us  inquire  whether  the  inci- 
dents and  characteristics  of  these  periods  as  described  by  Moses, 
bear  any  similarity  to  the  incidents  in  the  physical  history  of 
our  globe,  as  revealed  by  geological  science ;  and  whether  the 
Mosaic  classification  of  periods  and  operations  possesses  that 
evidence  of  truthfulness  which  consists  in  a  conformity  to  the 
law  of  the  three-fold  and  seven-fold  correspondential  series. 

In  a  previous  general  survey,  ranging  from  the  origin  to  the 
full  maturity  of  our  globe,  we  have  seen  that  there  were  seven 
grand  periods  or  stages  in  its  development,  as  there  are  seven 
stages  in  the  development  and  compartments  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  all  perfect  systems.  These  periods,  however,  are  not 
throughout  exactly  coincident  with  the  periods  described  by 
Moses,  inasmuch  as  the  two  descriptions  embrace  subjects 
somewhat  different.  In  our  general  geological  survey  we  have 


WOKK     OF     FIRST     DAT.  157 

endeavored  to  unfold  the  history  of  the  developments  of  the 
earth  as  such,  speaking  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  creations 
only  incidentally ;  while  the  object  of  Moses  appears  to  have 
been  to  speak  of  the  successive  organization  of  those  outer 
forms  and  conditions  with  which  man  is  immediately,  either 
sensibly  or  spiritually,  connected.  Hence,  Moses  passes  over 
the  first  two  stages  of  creation,  or  the  chaotic-gaseous  and  the 
nucleated  stages,  mentioned  in  our  generalization,  with  the 
simple  and  comprehensive  remark,  that  "  In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth,"  and  commences  his  main 
description  at  an  epoch  when  the  earth  was  probably  in  a 
state  of  imperfect  superficial  consolidation,  and  when  much  of 
the  water  of  the  ocean  was  still  diffused,  as  vapor,  in  the  thick 
and  turbid  atmosphere.  The  earth  is  hence  described  as  at 
that  period  "  without  form  and  void" — that  is,  without  arrange- 
ment, and  vacant — "  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the 
deep."  This  "  darkness"  may  be  conceived  to  have  been  a 
natural  consequence  of  the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  which  was 
probably  still  so  thick  as  not  to  be  easily  distinguishable  from 
the  fluid  portions  of  the  earth,  and  from  the  water  which  rested 
upon  its  surface,  in  which  condition  it  would,  of  course,  have 
been  completely  impervious  to  the  solar  rays.  The  first  Di- 
vine operation  naturally  required,  therefore,  was  to  produce 
changes  in,  and  precipitations  from,  the  aqueous  portions  of 
the  atmosphere,  such  as  would  admit  of  the  descent  of  some 
degree  of  solar  light  to  the  earth's  surface.  This  operation 
is  described  by  Moses,  in  saying,  "  The  Spirit  of  God  moved 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters :  and  God  said,  Let  there  be  light : 
and  there  was  light."  This,  according  to  the  account,  consti- 
tuted the  work  of  the  first  day.  And  here  it  may  be  remarked, 
once  for  all,  that  the  phrase,  "  the  evening  and  the  morning," 
which  is  used  as  the  standing  synonym  of  the  different 

14 


158  GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 

"  days"  in  this  account,  seems  to  stand  simply  for  the  begin- 
ning and  close  of  the  different  periods — a  use  of  language 
similar  to  that  employed  by  us  when  we  speak  of  the  "  eve"  or 
"  morn"  of  a  "  new  era." 

It  is  said,  that  "  God  called  the  light  Day,  and  the  darkness 
He  called  Night."  In  this  passage,  the  words  "day"  and 
"night"  are  probably  (though  not  necessarily)  used  in  their 
ordinary  acceptation,  and  point  to  a  revolution  of  the  earth  on 
its  axis,  and  a  successive  illumination  of  its  sides  by  the  sun. 
But  owing  to  the  thick  atmospheric  vapors  which  still  con- 
tinued to  prevail  to  a  great  extent,  the  sun  would  doubtless 
have  still  been  invisible  to  a  spectator,  could  such  have  been 
placed  upon  the  earth's  surface,  and  the  amount  of  solar  light 
that  could  have  penetrated  to  the  earth,  was  probably  much 
less  than  is  now  received,  even  through  the  thickest  and  dark- 
est clouds. 

The  next  work  seems  to  have  consisted  in  producing  further 
changes  and  regulations  in  the  atmosphere,  by  which  a  more 
distinct  line  of  demarcation  was  established  between  the  waters 
intended  to  be  suspended  in  the  air,  and  those  designed  to 
preserve  a  more  condensed  form  upon  the  earth's  surface. 
Moses,  being  obliged  to  make  the  most  of  the  few  words  which 
his  primitive  and  meager  language  afforded,  describes  this 
work  by  saying,  "  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  a  firmament  in 
the  midst  of  the  waters,  and  let  it  divide  the  waters  from  the 
waters."  Hebraists  tell  us  that  the  word  "firmament"  is  a 
very  improper  rendering  of  the  original  word,  which  signifies 
simply  an  expanse  or  space;  "  Consequently,"  (says  Dr. 
Clarke)  "  that  circumbient  space  or  expansion,  separating  the 
clouds,  which  are  in  the  higher  regions  of  it,  from  the  seas, 
etc.,  which  are  below  it."  During  the  high  temperature  of 
the  earth's  surface,  which  Geology  proves  to  have  prevailed  in 


SECOND     AND     THIRD     DAYS.  159 

those  early  times,  there  was  probably  every  intermediate  gra- 
dation between  the  most  dense  fluid  and  the  most  expanded 
vapor,  the  fluid  and  aeriform  substances  having  no  very 
marked  line  of  distinction.  While  such  was  the  case,  the  "  cir- 
cumambient space"  supposed,  could  have  had  no  distinct  exist- 
ence. A  physical  change  which  established  the  water,  at- 
mosphere, and  aqueous  vapor  and  clouds  respectively  as 
such,  was  of  course  the  next  necessary  step  in  creation's  pro- 
gress ;  and  this  is  all  that  appears  to  be  alluded  to  in  the  passage 
before  us  as  constituting  the  work  of  the  second  period  or 
"day-" 

It  was  probably  during  the  period  comprised  within  this 
day,  that  the  transition  rocks  beneath  the  coal  measures  were 
deposited.  These  contain  the  remains  of  animals  and  plants 
of  low  types,  which  are  almost  exclusively  marine.  But  to 
the  creation  of  these,  Moses  seems  to  make  no  allusion,  which 
fact  will  not  excite  particular  surprise,  when  we  consider  their 
comparative  unimportance  to  the  grand  object  which  he  had  in 
view,  which  was  simply  to  describe  how  the  physical  structure 
and  conditions  by  which  man  is  more  obviously  surrounded, 
came  to  exist. 

The  next  work  consisted  in  the  partition  of  land  and  water 
(or  the  elevation  of  the  former),  and  the  development  of  ter- 
restrial vegetation.  "  And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  under 
the  heaven  be  gathered  together,  and  let  the  dry  land  ap- 
pear :  and  it  was  so.  ...  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring 
forth  grass,  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit  tree  yield- 
ing fruit  after  his  kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself  upon  the  earth : 
and  it  was  so."  This  was  the  work  of  the  third  great  period 
or  day,  and  manifests  a  surprising  agreement  with  the  events 
of  the  period  of  the  great  Coal  Formation.  The  universal 
prevalence  of  almost  exclusively  marine,  and  the  almost  total 


160  GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 

absence  of  terrestrial,  fossils  in  the  previously  deposited  rocks, 
proves  that  the  ocean,  up  to  this  time,  covered  nearly  the 
whole  surface  of  the  earth — which  is  in  exact  agreement  with 
the  Mosaic  record,  which  implies  that  the  partition  of  land  and 
water  was  not  made  until  that  period.  But  large  areas  of  land 
being  then  slightly  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  waters, 
these,  as  another  strong  corroboration  of  the  record,  were 
covered  by  a  profuse  vegetation,  which  subsequently  became 
converted  into  the  immense  beds  of  mineral  coal  now  found 
to  be  so  essential  to  the  physical  comfort  and  social  progress 
of  the  human  race. 

The  next  work  is  spoken  of  by  the  sacred  cosmogonist  in 
the  following  terms :  "  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  lights  in 
the  firmament  of  heaven,  to  divide  the  day  from  the  night ; 
and  let  them  be  for  signs  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days  an<i 
years.  And  let  them  be  for  lights  in  the  firmament  of  the 
heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth :  and  it  was  so.  And 
God  made  two  great  lights :  the  greater  light  to  rule  the  day, 
and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night:  he  made  the  stars 
also." 

To  superficial  readers,  this  passage  has  seemed  exceedingly 
paradoxical.  The  supposition  that  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars, 
had  no  existence  until  the  comparative  atom  which  forms  this 
earth,  had  attained  to  the  advanced  stage  of  its  development, 
previously  described,  is,  with  any  interpretation  of  the  word 
"  day,"  so  unphilosophical  and  unreasonable  as  to  utterly 
defy  intelligent  belief.  Criticism,  however,  has  shown  that 
the  translation  of  the  passage  before  us,  does  injustice  to  the 
original,  which  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  the  heavenly 
bodies  were  not  created  until  the  fourth  day.  Professor 
Hitchcock,  who  is  a  learned  theologian  as  well  as  geologist, 
says,  upon  this  point :  "  If  it  be  objected  that,  according  to 


WORK     OF     FOUETH     DAY.  161 

Moses,  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  were  not  created  till  the 
fourth  day,  it  may  be  replied,  that  a  more  just  interpretation 
of  his  language  shows  his  meaning  to  be,  not  that  the  heavenly 
bodies  were  created  on  the  fourth  day,  but  that  they  were 
then  first  appointed  to  serve  their  present  offices ;  and  that 
they  might  have  been  in  existence  through  countless  ages." 

Admitting  such  to  be  the  true  meaning  of  the  passage,  we 
find,  again,  that  the  record  marvelously  coincides  with  the 
indication  of  geological  facts.  In  our  previous  survey  of  the 
natural  history  of  the  globe,  we  saw  conclusive  evidence  that 
up  to  the  close  of  the  Coal  Period,  a  nearly  uniform  tempera- 
ture prevailed  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  all  latitudes, 
and  that  there  could  have  been  no  distinction  of  warm  and 
cold  seasons.  This  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  the  rocks 
of  that  period,  in  all  latitudes,  contain  the  fossils  of  plants  and 
animals  analogous  only  to  those  which  now  flourish  between 
the  tropics.  It  is  manifest  that  such  a  state  of  climate  could 
not  have  been  governed,  in  any  great  degree,  by  the  rays  of 
the  sun,  which  vary  so  much  as  to  their  intensity,  in  the  dif- 
ferent latitudes ;  and  hence,  as  remarked  in  our  previous 
generalization,  the  sun's  rays,  during  the  Coal  and  previous 
periods,  could  not  yet  have  penetrated  the  atmosphere,  thick 
and  heavy  as  it  probably  was,  in  such  a  way  as  would  have 
rendered  that  luminary  visible  to  a  human  spectator,  had  such 
an  one  been  then  placed  upon  the  earth's  surface.  For  the 
same  reason  the  moon  and  stars  must  also,  during  those 
periods,  have  been  invisible.  Up  to  that  period,  therefore, 
the  heavenly  bodies  could  not  have  ruled  the  seasons, 
either  as  to  their  temperature  or  their  distinct  periodical 
revolutions;  and  all  the  light  which  could  have  descended 
from  them  to  the  earth  must  have  been  but  dim  and  in- 
distinct. 


162  GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 

But  in  preceding  pages  it  was  shown,  from  the  peculiar  man- 
ner in  which  the  impressions  of  frost-marks,  the  tracks  cf 
migratory  birds,  etc.,  occurred,"  during  the  geological  formation 
immediately  succeeding  the  Carboniferous  Period  (viz.,  the 
New  Red  Sandstone  formation),  that  distinctions  of  seasons 
and  climates  must  then  clearly  have  existed,  and  hence  that 
the  sun  must  then  have  exerted  his  direct  power  upon  the  earth, 
which  then,  as  now,  varied  in  its  intensity  with  the  different 
positions  assumed  by  the  earth  during  its  orbitual  revolution. 
An  atmospheric  condition  which  could  thus  have  admitted  of  a 
direct  descent  of  the  solar  rays,  must  also  have  rendered  the 
moon  and  stars  distinctly  visible  to  such  of  the  earth's  tenants 
as  had  eyes  to  perceive  them ;  and  in  these  facts  we  have  an 
abundant  verification  of  the  Mosaic  record,  as  to  the  work  of 
the  fourth  day.  It  consisted  simply  in  those  atmospheric 
clarifications  by  which  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  were  appoint- 
ed, or  allowed  to  exercise  the  office  of,  ruling  the  seasons,  and 
dividing  time  into  distinct  periods. 

The  direct  rays  of  the  sun  being  thus  admitted  to  the 
earth's  surface,  the  latter  consequently  became  habitable  to 
higher  orders  of  living  creatures.  Accordingly,  the  next  stage 
of  creation's  progress  is  thus  described :  "  And  God  said,  Let 
the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving  creature  that 
hath  life,  and  fowl  that  may  fly  above  the  earth  in  the  open 
firmament  of  heaven.  And  God  created  great  whales,  and 
every  living  creature  that  moveth,  which  the  waters  brought 
forth  after  their  kind,  and  every  winged  fowl  after  his  kind." 
Some  of  the  "  moving  creatures  "  here  spoken  of  as  introduced 
into  being,  were  probably  wholly  aquatic,  and  others  were  of 
the  lower  orders  of  air-breathing  animals.  It  is  remarkable 
that  the  remains  of  classes  of  animals  here  spoken  of,  first 
begin  to  appear  in  the  New  Red  Sandstone  strata,  which  is 


WORK     OF     FIFTII     DAY.  163 

the  formation  next  above  the  carboniferous  system,  and  which 
must  have  been  succeeded,  and  measurably  accompanied  by 
the  clarification  of  the  atmosphere,  spoken  of  as  the  work  of 
the  previous  day.  For  it  is  in  the  Red  Sandstone  stratifi- 
cation that  we  find  the  footprints  of  frogs,  tortoises,  and  birds. 
The  latter  were  mainly,  as  Professor  Hitchcock  intimates,  of 
the  Grallse  family,  or  the  family  of  waders,  and  were  therefore, 
with  the  former,  intimately  connected  with  the  water,  as  the 
Mosaic  account  implies.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt,  there- 
fore, that  these  birds  were  the  very  "  fowl "  of  which  Moses 
speaks. 

The  other  part  of  the  work  of  this  period,  according  to  the 
common  translation,  consisted  in  the  creation  of  "great  whales" 
etc.  This,  admitting  our  definition  of  the  word  "  day,"  forms 
the  only  apparent  discrepancy  between  geology  and  the 
sacred  cosmogony ;  for  whales  do  not  appear  to  have  existed 
before  a  somewhat  advanced  stage  of  the  so-called  Tertiary 
Formation,  and  a  very  long  period  after  this  time.  But 
criticism  resolves  even  this  apparent  discrepancy  into  a  sur- 
prising harmony.  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  who  wrote  before 
geology  was  much  cultivated,  and  hence  without  the  slightest 
idea  of  making  out  a  harmony  between  its  teachings  and  the 
declarations  of  Moses,  remarks  upon  the  expression  in  the 
passage  before  us :  "  Though  this  is  generally  understood  by 
the  different  versions  as  signifying  whales,  yet  the  original 
must  be  understood,  rather  as  a  general  than  a  particular* 
term,  comprising  all  great  aquatic  animals."  Now  the 
marine  saurians  were  "  great  aquatic  animals."  These,  with 
amphibious  and  terrestrial  reptiles  of  enormous  size,  came  in 
during  the  deposition  of  the  New  Red  Sandstone,  and  ex- 
tensively characterized  the  whole  so-called  Secondary  For- 
mation. Thus  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  work  of  the  fifth 


164:  GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 

day,  or  grand  period,  is  also  admirably  verified  by  geological 
facts. 

Animals  of  the  classes  just  described,  both  according  to 
Geology  and  Moses,  preceded  the  more  perfect  land  animals, 
the  mammalia,  upon  the  stage  of  existence.  The  creation  of 
these  latter  is  said  to  have  constituted  |he  first  part  of  the 
work  of  the  following,  being  the  sixth  day,  or  period,  which  is 
thus  spoken  of:  "  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  the 
living  creature  after  his  kind,  cattle,  and  creeping  thing,  and 
beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind :  and  it  was  so.  And  God 
made  the  beast  of  the  earth,  and  the  cattle  after  their  kind," 
etc.  The  proof  of  the  truth  of  this  portion  of  the  account  is 
found  in  the  remains  of  the  mammalial  quadrupeds  of  the 
Tertiary  Period,  in  the  more  recent  portions  of  which  we  have 
shown  that  there  was  an  actual  shading  off  of  the  animated 
tribes  into  the  existing  species.  Moreover,  the  work  of  this 
day,  or  period,  both  according  to  Geology  and  Moses,  was 
completed  by  the  introduction  of  Man  into  being,  as  the 
grand  ultimatum  of  all  the  creative  efforts.  Thence,  so  far  as 
that  great  series  of  unfoldings  was  concerned,  ensued  a  period 
of  rest,  and  the  present  is  that  sabattic  period. 

The  candid  reader  who  has  attentively  followed  me  through 
this  investigation,  will  bear  witness  that  I  have  made  no  effort 
to  explain  away,  or  to  change  the  true  aspect  of  properly 
understood  facts,  in  order  to  make  out  a  correspondence 
between  the  teaching  of  science  and  those  of  Moses,  but  that 
I  have  labored  to  simply  set  forth  the  facts  of  the  two  reve- 
lations in  their  true  aspect,  leaving  them  to  confirm  or  refute 
each  other  as  they  might.  The  coincidence  between  the  two 
revelations,  therefore,  which,  from  generals  to  particulars,  has 
here  appeared  so  striking,  is  one  for  which  no  human  collator 
is  responsible,  as  it  exists  independently  and  unalterably  in 


DIVINE     ENLIGHTENMENT.  165 

the  absolute  facts  of  the  case.  All  that  is  required  to  exhibit 
one  revelation  as  a  substantial  transcript  of  the  other,  is  an  ad- 
mission that  the  word  "  day  "  is  used  by  Moses  in  the  sense 
of  an  indefinite  period — a  sense  in  which  it  is  used  in  scores 
of  instances  in  the  Bible,  and  a  sense  in  which  Moses  unques- 
tionably used  it  in  Gen.  ii.  4,  where,  in  a  more  summary 
allusion  to  these  same  works  of  creation,  he  speaks  of  "  THE 
DAY  that  the  Lord  God  made  the  earth  and  the  heavens." 

As  it  is  next  to  an  impossibility  to  suppose  that  all  these 
surprising  coincidences  could  have  been  a  mere  work  of 
chance,  the  conclusion  is  scarcely  avoidable,  that  the  account 
in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  by  whomsoever  written,  must 
have  originated  in  a  source  of  intelligence  in  which  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  whole  history  of  the  creation  was  familiarly 
embraced. 

It  is  quite  certain,  however,  that  Moses  Knew  nothing,  at 
least  in  an  exterior  way,  about  Geology ;  for  of  this  science 
the  whole  human  race  has  been  ignorant  until  within  the  last 
century.  I  apprehend  that  nothing  short  of  an  hypothesis  of 
a  spiritual  or  Divine  enlightenment,  will  be  found  adequate  to 
explain  the  origin  of  this  biblical  and  wonderfully  accurate 
account  of  creation.  Concerning  the  laws  of  such  enlighten- 
ment, some  explanations  may  be  submitted  in  a  future  work. 

I  have  deemed  it  useful  to  show,  in  this  summary  manner, 
the  true  bearings  of  geological  science  upon  the  initial  revela- 
tion of  the  Bible,  partly  to  correct  a  tendency  which,  strange 
to  say,  has  been  manifested  in  the  modern  spiritual  mode  of 
philosophizing,  to  treat  lightly  this  and  other  revelations  of 
the  Bible,  on  account  of  the  supposed  "  unprogressed  "  state  of 
their  writers ;  partly  for  the  purpose  of  further  illustrating  the 
fact,  that  all  true  theology  and  other  species  of  doctrine, 
whether  found  in  the  Bible  or  elsewhere,  must  conform  to  the 


166 


GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 


unavoidable  deductions  of  scientific  facts ;  and  partly  for  the 
purpose  of  further  unfolding  that  remarkable  law  of  the  three- 
fold and  seven-fold  correspondential  series,  which  runs  through 
all  complete  systems  of  truth,  and  of  which  the  Mosaic  gene- 
ralization, properly  understood,  affords  a  conspicuous  example. 
That  the  seven-fold  series  of  creative  operations  here  spoken 
of  by  the  sacred  writer,  exactly  conforms  to  the  natural  and 
Divine  law  of  sereal  arrangement  which  we  have  heretofore 
unfolded,  is  obvious  from  the  correspondences  between  the 
respective  members  of  its  Primary  and  Secondary  Trinities, 
which  will  be  perceived  by  an  inspection  of  the  following 
juxtaposed  columns,  and  from  the  characteristics  of  the  rela- 
tions which  each  member  of  the  series,  from  first  to  last,  ex- 
hibits toward  the  others,  which  will  be  found  to  be  the  same 
which  the  same  members  in  other  serieses  respectively  bear 
toward  their  associates. 


PRIMARY  TRINITY. 
1st  Day.  Diffused  and  rudimental 
•     Light:  ("God  said,  Let  there 

be  light.") 

2nd  Day.  Atmospneric  and  terres- 
trial distinctions,  or  more  defin- 
ite line  of  demarcation  between 
condensed  and  vapory  water. 
("  Firmament.") 


3rd  Day.  Appearance  of  dry  land 
terrestrial  vegetation. 


SECONDARY  TRINITY. 
4th  Day.  Definite  solar  Light  (by 
the  sun  becoming  visible.) 


5th  Day.  Higher  and  first  impor- 
tant forms  of  oceanic,  terres- 
trial, and  atmospheric  life. 
("  Great  whales"  or  aquat- 
ic monsters  —  saurians  —  and 
«  fowls.") 

6th  Day.  Ultimate  Tenants  of 
dry  land.  (Mammalial  quadru- 
peds and  Man.) 

7th  Day.  REST,  and  Divine  habitation  in  the  Ultimate  of  the  creative 

labor. 


Here  the  correspondence  between  the  works  of  the  first  and 
fourth  days,  or  periods,  is  perceptible  at  a  glance,  in  that  they 
consisted  of  different  degrees  of  illumination  of  the  earth's 


COKKESrONDENCES.  167 

surface.  The  correspondence  between  the  works  of  the  second 
and  fifth  days  is  obvious,  but  becomes  still  more  marked  by 
the  addition  of  a  few  facts  which  Moses,  in  his  brief  survey, 
left  out,  but  which  are  supplied  by  geological  science.  The 
second  day,  according  to  Moses,  was  characterized  by  the  de- 
velopment of  more  marked  distinctions  between  earth,  water, 
and  atmosphere,  expressed  by  the  creation  of  the  "  firma- 
ment," or  the  super-terrestrial  expanse  ;  while  geology  shows 
that  the  fifth  day  was  characterized  by  the  development  of  a 
second  degree  of  similar  distinctions,  whereby  alternations  of 
climates  and  seasons,  cold  and  heat,  rains,  winds,  etc.,  super- 
vened. Moreover,  the  fifth  day,  according  to  the  biblical 
account,  was  characterized  by  the  development  of  rudimental 
land  and  aerial  animals ;  while,  according  to  geology,  the 
second  day,  after  the  incipient  creation  of  light,  was  further  oc- 
cupied by  the  creation  of  the  rudimental  marine  animals,  or 
the  radiata,  articulata,  mollusca,  and  fishes  of  the  so-called 
Transition  Formation.  The  creation  of  these,  Moses  passes 
over  in  silence,  the  reason  of  which  may  be  conceived  to  con- 
sist in  their  comparative  non-importance,  and  in  the  fact  that 
in  that  unintellectual  age,  they  were  not,  as  facts  in  nature, 
sufficiently  conspicuous  to  excite  general  inquiry  as  to  their 
origin. 

Further  correspondences  are  also  developed,  by  the  aid  of 
geological  science,  between  the  third  and  sixth  days,  but  Con- 
cerning these  I  need  not  particularize. 

If  the  reader  will  now  take  the  trouble  to  compare  the  mem- 
bers of  this  series  of  creations  as  described  by  Moses,  with  the 
members  of  any  seven-fold  series  of  creations  or  operations 
which  we  have  heretofore  described,  or  which  we  may  describe 
hereafter,  he  will  find  that  each  member  is  to  its  series  what 
the  same  member  of  any  other  natural  seven-fold  series  is  to  the 


168  GEOLOGY     AND     MOSES. 

other  members  with  which  it  is  associated,  and  that  between  this 
and  all  other  serieses  there  is  the  same  correspondence  as  there 
is  between  any  two  octaves  in  music.  It  is,  be  it  remembered, 
upon  the  fact  of  this  correspondence  between  the  serieses, 
whether  generally  or  minutely  inspected,  that  we  base  bur 
conclusion  as  to  the  unity  of  plan  which  runs  through  nature, 
pointing  to  an  origin  in  the  seven-fold  and  corresponding 
harmonies  of  the  one  Infinite  God,  who,  from  His  own  Es- 
sence, has  projected,  from  His  own  Life  animates,  and,  from 
His  own  Wisdom,  directs,  all  things.  It  is  in  perfect  harmony 
with  this  supposition  of  a  Divine  originative  and  controlling 
Power,  that  Moses,  in  the  simple  and  untechnical  language  of 
his  times,  refers  the  work  of  each  of  the  successive  periods  of 
creation  to  a  Divine  agency,  and  not  to  any  force  of  develop- 
ment inhering  in  nature  as  independent  of  God. 

I  may  add,  that  if  there  actually  is  a  perfect  conformity, 
from  generals  to  particulars,  between  the  principles  involved 
in  this  seven-fold  series  of  operations  mentioned  by  Moses, 
and  those  involved  in  every  other  seven-fold  natural  or 
spiritual  series,  whether  it  be  found  in  science  or  in  the  Bible, 
this  fact  must  be  considered  as  strongly  confirming,  not  to 
say  absolutely  demonstrating,  our  conclusion  that  there  is  a 
mighty  law  here  involved,  and  must  go  far  to  convince 
reasonable  skeptics  of  the  truth  of,  at  least,  those  portions  of 
the.  Biblical  revelation  which  are  found  to  clearly  recognize 
that  law.  Yet,  from  a  close  inspection  of  the  sacred  writings, 
it  will  be  found  that  this  law  is  not  only  expressly  recognized 
in  numerous  instances,  but  that  it  runs  through  the  whole 
Divine  plans  of  operation,  in  reference  to  the  human  race, 
of  which  the  Bible  gives  an  historical  and  prophetic  reflex. 


CHAPTEE    XIV. 

THE   MINERAL   KINGDOM;   OE,   KINGDOM   OF   CHEMICAL 
FOEMS. 

FROM  the  terrestrial  creation,  as  a  whole,  we  proceed  to  a 
brief  consideration  of  the  general  sub-creations  which  it 
"involves.  The  first  of  these  is  the  MINERAL  KINGDOM. 

The  Mineral  Kingdom,  in  its  most  enlarged  sense,  em- 
braces all  physical  or  terrestrial  substances,  with  their  various 
forms  and  compounds.  Being  thus  general  in  its  range,  it  is 
hence  a  comparatively  indefinite  Kingdom ;  and  it  is  for  this 
reason,  I  suppose,  that  I  have  experienced  more  embarrass- 
ment in  reducing  it  to  distinct  classifications,  than  I  have  in 
respect  to  any  other  system  of  being  or  operation  ;  and,  after 
all,  I  can  only  pretend  to  a  comparatively  close  approximation 
to  correctness  in  my  conclusions.  Such  an  approximation, 
embracing  the  most  comprehensive  serial  arrangement  of  phy- 
sical substances,  is  that  exhibited  in  the  following  table : 


PRIMARY  TRINITY. 

1.  Primeval  gaseous  or  mundane 
chaos. 

2.  Igneous  liquid. 


3.  Solidified  amorphous. 


SECONDARY  TRINITY. 

4.  Secondary  gaseous  or  terres- 
trial atmosphere. 

5.  Segregated,  embracing  rudi- 
mental  crystalline  forms,  both 
solid  and  atmospheric. 

6.  Complete    material    arrange- 


ments and  ultimate  crystal- 
line forms. 
7.  Governing  imponderables. 
15 


170  THE     MINERAL     KINGDOM;    OR, 

If  the  reader  will  carefully  inspect  this  table,  he  will  here 
find  the  same  harmony  of  parts,  the  same  correspondence  be- 
tween Primary  and  Secondary  Trinities,  the  same  order  of 
relations,  and  the  same  principles  of  serial  association,  which 
he  will  find  in  all  other  natural  seven-fold  serieses  heretofore 
exhibited,  or  hereafter  to  be  exhibited. 

But  a  still  more  specific  classification  of  mineral  or  physical 
substances  embraces  all  the  simple  elements,  with  their 
natural  compound  forms,  as  known  to  chemistry — as  will  be 
seen  by  the  following  table : 


PRIMARY  TRINITY. 

1.  Alkalizable    and    oxidizable 
simples  (such  as  Potassium, 
sodium,  iron,  lead,  hydrogen, 
etc.) 

2.  Acidizable  simples   (such   as 
sulphur,  phosphorus,  carbon, 
etc.) 

3.  Flagrators,  or  alkalizers,  acid- 
ifiers,  and  oxidizers*  (oxygen 


SECONDARY  TRINITY 

4.  Lowest  combined  forms  (such 
as  alkalies,  acids,  oxides,  sul- 
phurets,  carburets,  etc.) 

5.  Binary   compounds   (such   as 
sulphates,  carbonates,  etc.) 

6.  Higher    and    ultimate    com- 
pounds. 


and  chlorine). 

7.  Pervading  and  enveloping  electroid,  or  etheroid  unit,  as  a  homo- 
geneous involution  and  evolution  of  all  forms. 

But  the  Mineral  Kingdom,  as  commonly  contemplated,  is 
circumscribed  to  the  realm  of  crystallized  forms,  and  the 
amorphous  substances  from  which  these  immediately  proceed. 
A  theory  of  a  septinary  arrangement  of  the  Mineral  King- 
dom, as  viewed  in  this  aspect,  might  be  here  submitted,  but, 
from  not  having  made  crystalography  a  particular  branch  of 
study,  I  have  not  sufficient  confidence  in  its  conformity  to 
nattire,  and  will  therefore  omit  it.  Enough,  however,  has 
been  said  to  show  that  the  Mineral  Kingdom,  in  its  more 
general  aspect,  conforms  to  the  seven-fold  serial  and  corre- 


KINGDOM     OF     CHEMICAL     FORMS.  171 

spondential  law  seen  to  apply  in  other  cases  and  nothing  is 
here  discovered  to  mar,  but  every  thing  illustrates,  the  har- 
mony and  unity  of  the  great  plan  of  creation.  With  these 
remarks,  then,  we  will  proceed  to  consider  the  Kingdom  of 
forms  immediately  succeeding  the  mineral,  in  the  order  of 
development. 


CHAPTEE    XY. 

THE    VEGETABLE    KINGDOM. 

THE  seven-fold  constitution  of  the  Vegetable  Kingdom  as  a 
whole,  is  illustrated  by  the  seven  progressive  developments  in 
the  growth  of  a  single  perfect  tree,  which  consist  of  1.  The 
root,  or  little  appendages  thrown  out  from  the  germ  before  the 
stem  appears ;  2.  The  simple  stem ;  3.  The  branches ;  4.  The 
leaves ;  5.  The  flower-buds ;  6.  The  blossoms  ;  and  7.  The 
fruit.  The  seven  corresponding  divisions  of  vegetable  forms 
may  be  traced  as  follows  : 

The  first  and  lowest  of  these  consists  simply  of  confused 
radical  fibers,  which  do  not  necessarily  appear  above  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth.  In  constitution,  this  degree  of  vegetation  is 
but  little  superior  to  the  finest  forms  of  crystallization,  from 
which  it  differs  principally  in  respect  to  its  soft  and  succulent 
nature,  the  frequent  curvilinear  directions  of  its  fibers,  and  the 
circular  forms  of  their  transverse  sections.  Of  this  lowest 
kind  of  vegetation,  we  have  examples  in  the  slimy  accretions 
which  occur  upon  the  surfaces  of  rocks,  logs,  etc.,  submerged 
in  water ;  and  of  which  the  fibrous  underground  mould  which 
occurs  in  warm  wet  soil,  impregnated  with  rapidly  decompos- 
ing matter,  constitutes  the  terrestrial  representative. 

The  second  division  of  vegetable  forms  is  represented  by 
plants  that  have  a  simple  stem  or  shoot  projecting  above  the 
earth,  but  no  branches  nor  leaves.  Of  these,  some  of  the 
simplest  species  of  sea- weeds  afford  examples. 


THE     VEGETABLE     KINGDOM.  173 

The  third  division  consists  of  the  branching  forms  of  sea 
plants,  of  which  the  fucoides  afford  an  example. 

The  fourth  division  consists  of  terrestrial  herbacea,  which 
are  characterized  by  fully  developed  leaves.  But  the  lower 
forms  of  this  general  division  also  embrace  lichens,  mosses, 
fungi,  etc. 

The  fifth  division  consists  of  arborescent  cryptogamia,  or 
of  those  perennial  plants  in  which  the  organs  of  fructification 
are  concealed. 

The  sixth  division  consists  of  the  arborescent  monocotyledon- 
ous,  or  of  those  flowering  trees  whose  seed  has  but  one  lobe ;  and 

The  seventh  division  consists  of  the  arborescent  dicotyledo- 
nous, or  of  those  flowering  trees  whose  seeds  have  two  lobes, 
and  which  are  the  most  perfect  forms  of  the  vegetable  king- 
dom. 

This  comprehensive  classification,  though  new,  is  in  accord- 
ance with  the  general  order  of  succession  in  vegetable  crea- 
tions as  indicated  in  fossilology,  and  is  therefore  natural. 
Each  one  of  these  divisions,  of  course,  is  subject  to  sub-classi- 
fications, which  sometimes  run  parallel  with  each  other ;  but 
an  herbaceous  and  arborescent  plant  which  possess  the  same 
number  of  stamins,  pistils,  or  cotyledons,  evidently  should  not 
simply  on  that  account,  be  placed  in  absolutely  the  same  class 
or  order. 

That  it  may  the  more  clearly  be  perceived  that  this  classifi- 
cation conforms  to  the  serial  and  correspondential  law  hereto- 
fore unfolded,  we  will  reduce  it  to  the  following  form  : 

PRIMARY  TRINITY.  SECONDARY  TRINITY 


(  Marine  forms.) 


1.  Radical  fiber. 

2.  Simple  stem, 

3.  Branching. 


(  Terrestrial  forms. ) 

4.  Terrestrial  herbacea  (leafing.) 

5.  Arborescent  cryptogamia. 

6.  Flowering  monocotyledonous. 


7.  Flowering  dicotyledonous. 


174:  THE     VEGETABLE     KINGDOM. 

Here  it  is  seen  that  the  first  member  of  the  Primary  Trin- 
ity, the  radical  fiber  or  the  root  principle,  so  to  speak,  of 
vegetation,  has  its  counterpart  and  sub-correspondent  in  the 
first  member  of  the  Secondary  Trinity,  in  the  leafing  plants — 
leaves  being  merely  aerial  roots.  The  second  member  of  the 
Primary  Trinity,  consisting  of  plants  with  a  simple  stem,  has 
its  counterpart  and  sub-correspondent  in  the  second  member 
of  the  Secondary  Trinity — the  organs  of  fructification  in  the 
cryptogamous  plants  being  connected  with  the  leaves,  and 
being  mere  shoots  from  them  as  from  a  root.  Considering 
the  cryptogamous  plants  in  the  Vegetable  Kingdom  as  a  whole, 
as  corresponding  to  the  flower-buds  of  a  single  tree,  the  third 
member  of  the  Secondary  Trinity,  showing  the  branchings 
from  the  flower-buds,  as  from  a  stem,  bears  a  certain  corre- 
spondence to  the  third  member  of  the  Primary  Trinity,  em- 
bracing merely  the  branching  forms  of  vegetation,  The  seventh 
member  is  not  only  of  a  more  perfect  organic  structure,  but 
it  embraces  all  the  more  perfect  fruit-bearing  trees  which  afford 
nourishment  to  higher  kingdoms,  and  therefore  it  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  crown  of  the  whole  Vegetable  Kingdom.  It  is 
thus  seen  that  the  grand  and  natural  divisions  of  the  Vegeta- 
ble World,  conform  to  the  septenary  and  ternary  serial  law ; 
and  its  complete  series  will  be  found,  on  comparison,  to  corre- 
spond generally  and  particularly  with  all  other  complete  series. 


CHAPTEE    XYI. 


THE    ANIMAL     KINGDOM. 

THE  Animal  Kingdom  follows  as  next  in  the  order  of  pro- 
gression, after  the  Vegetable  Kingdom.  Its  divisions,  in  their 
regular  order  of  ascension  from  lowest  to  highest,  and  also, 
generally  speaking,  in  respect  to  their  successive  periods  of 
development  as  shown  by  fossilology,  are  as  follows : 


PRIMARY  TRINITY. 

(Marine  forms.} 

1.  RADIATA  (coral  insects,  crinoi- 
dians,  star-fishes,  medusise, 
etc.) 


2.  ARTICULATA  (sea-worrns,  trilo- 
bites,  crabs,  lobsters,  etc.) 

3.  VEUTEBRATED  FISHES. 


SECONDARY  TRINITY. 
(Terrestrial  forms.) 

4.  REPTILES.     (The   lower  forms 
of  this  division  embrace  also  the 
terrestrial  mollusca  and  articu- 
lata,  such  as  snails,  worms,  in- 
sects, etc.) 

5.  BIRDS. 

6.  MAMMALIA. 


7.  MAN  as  a  terrestrial  being. 

IN  this  table  are  represented  three  general  divisions  of  ma- 
rine forms,  and  three  general  divisions  of  terrestrial  forms. 
The  first  division  of  marine  forms  is  to  its  sphere  of  existence 
and  to  the  divisions  of  marine  forms  which  follow  it,  what  the 
first  division  of  terrestrial  forms  is  to  its  sphere  of  existence, 
and  to  the  divisions  which  follow  it ;  and  so  also  the  one  trine 
in  its  sphere  corresponds  to  the  other  trine  in  its  sphere,  both 
in  the  complex  and  in  the  successive  divisions  of  each. 

It  may  be  objected  to  the  foregoing  classification,  that  it 


176  THE     ANIMAL     KINGDOM. 

leaves  out  one  important  division  of  the  animal  kingdom,  viz., 
the  Mollusca.  To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  the  Mollusca, 
especially  in  its  lower  forms,  seem,  to  he  but  a  higher  branch 
of  the  Radiata.  Some  of  the  lower  or  univalve  shell-fish 
grow  in  clusters,  or  united  compartments,  almost  as  one  ani- 
mal, and  in  this  essential  characteristic  are  somewhat  allied 
to  the  polipiaria,  which  comprises  one  class  of  the  Radiata. 
This  quality  of  growing  in  clusters,  or  connected  compart- 
ments, is  preserved  even  by  some  of  the  bivalves,  such  as 
muscles,  oysters,  etc.  The  detached  bivalves,  having  locomo- 
tive powers,  seem  to  be  an  ascension  from  these ;  and  the  still 
higher  orders  of  mollusca,  viz.,  the  gastropoda  and  cephalo- 
poda, seem  to  be  but  higher  representations  of  the  same  sys- 
tem of  creative  design,  which,  as  its  lowest  expression,  evolved 
the  polipiaria  and  crinoids. 

I  have  personally  observed  that  the  whilk,  which  is  among 
the  higher  orders  of  shell-fish,  propagates  through  the  medium 
of  a  zoophitic,  or  vegetable-like,  form,  with  an  attached  stem, 
and  containing  leaf-like  appendages  or  pods,  in  which  the 
young  are  brought  to  foetal  maturity.  The  Radiata  and  Mol- 
lusca, therefore;  may  be  considered  as  comprehended  in  one 
general  division  of  the  Animal  Kingdom,  which  division,  how- 
ever, should  perhaps  be  designated  by  some  term  of  more 
comprehensive  significance. 

It  is  thus  seen,  that  the  Animal  Kingdom  conforms  to  the 
same  serial  and  correspondential  law  which  we  have  seen  run- 
ning through  all  systems  of  creation  previously  contemplated, 
and  which  we  will  hereafter  perceive  runs  equally  through  still 
higher  developments.  And  with  this,  as  the  highest  system 
of  material  creation,  our  more  specific  classifications  of  the 
grand  departments  of  the  universe  without  us,  is  completed. 


CHAPTEE   XVII. 

THE    WHOLE    AND    ITS    PARTS. 

WE  have  thus  ascended,  through  progressive  stages  of  ob- 
servation and  induction,  from  the  basis  to  the  apex  of  the 
grand  pyramid  of  outer  creation.  From  the  commanding 
position  to  which  we  have  attained,  therefore,  it  is  proper  to 
take  a  general  survey  of  the  ground  over  which  we  have 
passed,  and  to  observe  any  general  or  particular  facts  which 
may  thence  present  themselves,  as  bearing,  favorably  or  other- 
wise, upon  the  conclusions  to  which  we  have  been  led,  or  as 
reflecting  light  upon  still  ulterior  truths. 

And  first,  a  remark  in  reference  to  the  method  and  order 
of  our  previous  investigations :  It  will  be  remembered  that 
we  commenced  with  the  observation  of  sensible  facts,  which 
lie  upon  the  exteriors  of  Nature,  and  proceeded  to  trace  them 
analytically  to  their  elements  and  originative  conditions,  and 
those  to  theirs,  until  we  arrived  at  the  primeval  and  com- 
mon chaotic  Germ  from  which  all  things,  by  different  ramifi- 
cations, sprang.  The  nature  and  propriety  of  the  reverse  pro- 
cess which  we  thence  pursued,  with  the  naturalness  of  the 
order  of  successive  results  to  which  it  led  us,  may  be  illustrated 
as  follows : 

The  astronomer  discerns  in  the  distant  heavens  a  faint  whitish 
spot,  which  he  calls  a  nebula.  To  the  naked  eye,  it  appears 
dim,  indistinct,  and  undefined.  He  applies  a  telescope  of 
moderate  power,  and  the  outlines  of  the  same  object  are  a 


178  THE     WHOLE     AND     ITS     PAKTS. 

little  more  defined.  With  a  still  larger  telescope,  it  appears 
still  more  definite ;  and  so  he  goes  on  increasing  his  optical 
power,  until  the  same  object  is  resolved  into  myriads  of  mi- 
nute stars,  which  appear  like  particles  of  diamond  dust  sprinkled 
upon  the  blue  concave.  By  another  increase  of  power,  these 
stars  are  made  to  exhibit  appearances  of  internal  systematic 
arrangement.  This  is  as  far  as  the  most  powerful  telescopes 
will  go ;  but  suppose  that  he  had  the  ability  to  augment  his 
optical  power  indefinitely ;  each  of  those  stars,  which  at  first 
appeared  only  as  a  shining  point,  may  soon  be  made  to  glow 
as  a  resplendent  sun,  revealing  a  multitude  of  planets  swim- 
ming in  the  sea  of  light  by  which  it  is  surrounded.  He  now 
singles  out  one  of  those  planetary  globes  as  the  special  object 
of  inspection ;  and  as,  by  our  imagined  possibilities,  the  visual 
power  is  enhanced  through  other  successive  degrees,  the 
forests,  the  fields,  the  streams,  the  trees,  the  flowers,  and  even 
the  insects,  which  may  exist  upon  the  surface  of  that  planet, 
or  the  animalcules  which  sport  in  its  stagnant  waters,  would 
successively  come  into  view.  Now,  be  it  remarked,  that  all 
these  successive  particularizations,  even  down  to  ultimate  mi- 
nutiae, are  involved  in  that  faint  luminous  spot,  which,  as  a 
most  comprehensive  general,  is  first  seen  by  the  naked  eye  in 
the  remote  heavens. 

Our  process  of  synthetical  investigation  has  been  similar  to 
that  just  supposed,  we  having  the  advantage  of  the  actual 
presence  and  personal  inspection  of  the  minutiae  included  in 
the  general  subject  of  our  thoughts.  With  a  mental  telescope 
we  have  penetrated,  not  into  the  distance  of  space,  but  into 
the  corresponding  distance  of  time,  and  beheld  the  universe  in 
the  aspect  of  one  common  nebulous  mass.  By  following  the 
natural  history  of  this  one  general  mass  through  its  suc- 
cessive approximations  to  our  own  period,  we  have  seen  it 


GENERALS     INVOLVE     PARTICULARS.       179 

successively  unfolding  solar  systems,  geological  developments, 
mineral  kingdoms,  animal  kingdoms,  and  human  races,  with 
all  things  which  they  respectively  include.  It  is  to  be  ob- 
served that  each  of  these  successive  particularizations  is  based 
upon,  and  was  included  in,  the  next  preceding  general,  as  all 
are  based  upon,  and  included  in,  the  all-comprehensive  General. 

Moreover,  that  the  order  in  which  these  particularizations, 
Kingdoms,  or  sub-creations  have  been  brought  under  review, 
is  not  an  order  arbitrarily  adopted  for  our  own  convenience, 
but  clearly  one  observed  by  nature  herself,  is  evident  from 
the  fact,  that  no  two  systems  or  Kingdoms,  as  arranged  in  our 
series  of  inquiries,  can  be  transposed.  This  illustration  of  the 
relations  of  generals  and  particulars  also  clearly  shows,  that 
all  truths  are  but  involutions  and  evolutions  of  one  funda- 
mental truth — hence  that  all  truths  must  bear  certain  relations 
and  correspondences  to  each  other,  from  their  origins  through- 
out their  successive  ramifications,  even  to  their  ultimates; 
and  that  no  truth  can  be  fully  understood,  except  in  the 
general  and  particular  light  of  all  others. 

Moreover,  if  the  serial  order  in  which  the  grand  divisions 
of  nature,  as  a  whole,  have  been  brought  under  review,  is  ac- 
cording to  the  order  of  progressive  development  observed  by 
nature  herself,  the  same  is  generally  true  of  the  serial  order 
of  the  seven  sub-divisions  which  have  been  applied  to  each  of 
these  grand  divisions.  By  a  particular  review  of  either  of 
these  classified  sub-divisions,  the  reader  will  find,  for  example, 
that  the  first  member  of  the  series  is  naturally  germinal,  and 
that  the  seventh  is  naturally  ultimate,  to  all  the  others ;  and 
that  no  two  members  of  the  series  can  be  transposed  without 
deranging  the  harmony  of  the  whole  series.  And  though  we, 
of  course,  claim  no  absolute  exemption  from  particular  errors 
and  imperfections  in  the  classifications  which  have  been  sub- 


180  THE     WHOLE     AND     ITS     PAKTS. 

mitted,  it  is  nevertheless  claimed  that  their  manifest  general 
conformity  to  nature,  together  with  their  ternary  relations 
and  correspondences,  involved,  after  identically  the  same 
general  method,  in  each  seven-fold  series,  clearly  reveals  the 
presence  of  a  grand  structural  or  associative  LAW  which,  in  a 
corresponding  manner,  and  in  different  degrees  of  develop- 
ment, governs  the  numbers,  relations,  and  succession  of  parts, 
in  every  complete  system  of  natural  unfolding.  Of  this  law, 
as  before  repeatedly  intimated,  the  diatonic  scale  in  music, 
with  its  seven  notes,  is  the  natural  and  oral  exponent. 

Having  thus  subjected  the  grand  divisions  of  nature  to  re- 
view, and  discovered  the  application  of  this  principle  of  serial 
and  correspondential  classification  to  them  all,  let  us  now  see 
whether  the  connected  and  successive  creations  thus  brought 
under  review,  will  naturally  fall  into  the  form  of  one  grand 
System,  in  which  our  principles  of  serial  arrangement  will  be 
exemplified.  This  may  be  best  exhibited  by  the  following 
table: 


PRIMARY  TRINITY. 
(Structural.) 

1.  Firmamental  and  sidereal  uni- 
verse. 

2.  Solar  systems. 

3.  Geological  developments. 


SECONDARY  TRINITY. 
(Organic.') 

4.  System  of  chemical  or  com- 
prehensive mineralogical    ar- 
rangements. 

5.  Vegetable  kingdoms 

6.  Animal  kingdoms. 


ULTIMATE. 

(Intellectual.) 

7.  HUMAN   RACES,  as  to  their   merely  terrestrial    constitutions, 
affections,  and  thoughts. 

Not  only  do  we  observe  in  this  series  a  natural  order  of 
succession  of  parts,  which  will  not  admit  of  addition,  retrench- 
ment, or  transposition,  but  we  also  observe  the  same  ternary 


PRISMATIC     COLORS.  181 

relations  and  correspondences  which  we  have  seen  are  in- 
volved in  all  the  series  previously  examined.  Thus  the  first 
member  of  the  series,  which  is  rudimental-s^rwcftm*/,  corre- 
sponds to  the  fourth  member,  which  is  rudimental-organic  ;* 
the  second  member  is  the  transition-structural,  and  corresponds 
to  the  fifth  (the  Vegetable  Kingdom),  which  is  the  transitional- 
organic;  the  third  member  is  the  (physically)  perfect-structural, 
and  corresponds  to  the  sixth,  which  is  the  perfect  organic. 
And  the  seventh  is  ultimate,  exhibiting  the  perfection  and 
united  sublimation  of  all — in  this  respect  corresponding  to  the 
seventh  member  of  every  other  series,  even  as  the  first  mem- 
ber in  each  series  corresponds  to  the  first  member  in  all 
others ;  the  second  to  the  second,  etc.  The  same  principles 
of  serial,  septenary,  and  correspondential  classification,  thus 
apply  equally  to  the  generals  and  the  particulars  of  nature,  at 
least  so  far  as  such  particulars  have  been  brought  under 
review. 

But  while  the  respective  members  of  each  seven-fold  series, 
whether  on  a  high  or  low  scale,  including  the  great  series  of 
all  serieses,  correspond  to  the  same  members,  as  numerically 
designated  in  all  other  serieses,  these  correspondences  are  of 
different  degrees  of  directness  and  intimacy,  according  to 
numerical  relations  more  complicated  than  those  which  have 
yet  been  brought  into  view.  This,  together  with  the  manner 
in  which  general  and  particular  serial  correspondences  are 
involved  in  one  complete  system,  may  be  illustrated  partially,' 
but  sufficiently  for  our  present  purpose,  by  a  reference  to  th0 
seven  prismatic  colors  and  their  involved  properties.  It  i% 
found  that,  by  causing  each  of  the  seven  colors  of  decomposed 

*  A  crystal  possesses  a 'kind  of  molecular  life,  and  has  different  parts,  angles,  and 
poles,  which  perform  different  functions,  as  shown  by  Keichenbach ;  it  may  therefore 
be  considered  as  an  wgamsm,  though  of  the  lowest  kind. 

16 


182  THE     WHOLE     AND     ITS     PAKTS. 

light  to  pass  separately  through  a  second  prism,  they  may  be 
still  further  decomposed,  and  form  a  secondary  iris,  in  which 
each  of  the  seven  colors  will  again  be  visible.  Now  the  first 
or  general  iris  represents  the  great  System  of  systems,  con- 
sidered as  one,  while  each  included  iris  represents  one  of  the 
sub-systems  involved  in  the  latter,  and  which  is  also  seven- 
fold. In  other  words,  the  grand  seven-fold  System  of  nature 
is  composed  of  all  its  included  and  subordinate  seven-fold 
systems,  in  the  same  way  as  the  grand  iris  is  composed  of 
all  the  elements  involved  in  its  included  irises,  there  being 
in  either  case  a  similar  interdependence  of  parts ;  and  hence 
there  is  the  same  unity  in  the  System  as  a  whole,  that  there 
is  in  each  one  of  its  analogous  and  component  sub-systems. 
The  grand  System  of  nature,  and  each  one  of  its  sub-systems, 
then,  correspond  to  each  other  in  the  same  way  as  the  grand 
iris,  and  each  of  its  included  sub-irises  correspond  to  each 
other,  according  to  their  similar  numerical  designations.  But 
while  this  is  the  case  with  the  iris  and  its  included  sub-irises, 
it  is  evident  that  one  of  these  latter,  based,  for  example,  upon 
the  general  red  ray,  would  bear  a  different  degree  of  corre- 
spondence to  other  seven-fold  divisions  of  color,  from  one 
that  is  based  generally  upon  the  yellow,  blue,  or  any  other 
ray ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  great  System  of  nature  and 
its  sub-systems. 

It  was  before  shown  that  each  seven-fold  system  of  nature 
is  accompanied,  in  its  development'and  functional  operations, 
by  seven  corresponding  dynamic  agents,  and  also  seven 
corresponding  laws.  It  may  therefore  be  said  that  these 
dynamic  agents  and  laws  are  also,  either  identically  or  by 
their  natural  representatives  in  different  degrees  of  ascension, 
subject  to  the  same  comprehensive  and  involved  classifications 
which  we  have  just  seen  to  apply  to  their  corresponding 


AGENTS,  LAWS,  DEVELOPMENTS 


183 


outer  developments,  as  presented  in  the  universal  Fabric  of 
Being  and  its  parts.  It  would,  indeed,  be  difficult  to  get  a 
set  of  terms  sufficiently  comprehensive,  and  yet  sufficiently 
definite,  to  apply  equally  to  all  systems  and  sub-systems  in- 
volved in  a  universal  classification;  but  if  the  reader  will 
consider  the  terms  we  may  employ  as  being  themselves 
correspondential,  and  as  expressive  merely  of  general  prin- 
ciples, he  may  find  the  general  and  particular  systems  of 
nature,  in  their  three-fold  relations  of  Dynamic  Agents,  Laws, 
and  Developments,  represented,  with  approximate  truthful- 
ness, in  the  following  table : 


DYNAMIC   AGENTS. 

1.  Heat. 

2.  Light. 

3.  Electricity. 

4.  Organic,    or    odic 

heat. 
6.  Odic  light. 

6.  Odic  aura. 

7.  Vitality. 


LAWS. 

DEVELOPMENTS. 

Expansion. 

Chaos. 

Attraction. 

Nuclei. 

Circulation. 

Forms. 

Aggregation. 

Incipient  organism 

Segregation.' 

Ascended     organic 

forms. 

Sympathy. 

Universal  association. 

Life. 

Unity  of  totality. 

Applying  the  fundamental  principles  of  this  classification, 
in  different  degrees,  to  the  universal  system,  and  to  all  its 
sub-systems,  we  have  here  a  representation  of  the  connection 
and  harmonial  relations  of  the  Whole  with  the  parts,  and  the 
parts  with  the  Whole,  of  the  Macrocosm  or  the  universe 
without — corresponding  to  the  connections  and  relations  of 
the  parts  and  the  whole,  of  the  Microcosm,  or  the  universe 
within.  Here,  then,  is  erected,  "without  the  noise  of  the 
hammer,"  that  universal  Temple  before  spoken  of,  whose 


184.  THE     WHOLE     AND     ITS     PABTS. 

timbers,  hewn  by  God's  own  hand,  consist  of  all  those  fads 
and  principles  which  lie  in  the  Realm  of  Being  without  us, 
and  which  mere  analytical  science  -necessarily  views  in  ever- 
lasting isolation  and  confusion. 


CIIAPTEE    XYIII. 

DUALISM   OF  PRODUCTIVE   FOEOES;  OE,  THE   DIASTOLE 
AND    SYSTOLE    OF   NATUEE. 

FOLLOWING  link  by  link  the  descending  chain  of  analogy, 
the  conclusion  was  before  arrived  at,  that  in  the  beginning, 
the  materials  of  the  universe  consisted  of  one  diffuse,  chaotic, 
or  gaseous  mass,  without  distinction  of  parts,  or  definite  inter- 
nal motions.  Reasons  were  also  submitted  for  believing  that 
these  material  conditions  were  not  eternal,  but  that  they 
originated  as  emanations  or  projections  of  the  more  exterior 
essences  of  the  Divine  Personal  Constitution.  It  was  shown 
that,  inasmuch  as  this  whole  mass  of  physical  substance  thus 
originated  from  Divine  spiritual  substance,  so  physical  Heat 
in  this  substance  originated  from  Divine  spiritual  Heat,  which 
is  Love,  and  that  physical  Light  originated  from  Divine 
spiritual  Light,  which  is  Wisdom.  It  was  also  shown  that 
Heat  is  accompanied  with  a  force  or  law  of  Expansion ;  and 
that  from  Heat  and  Light  combined,  originated  the  force  or 
law  of  Attraction  or  Contraction.  As  Divine  Love  and  Wis- 
dom (forming  a  Duality,  or  productive  unity,  consisting  of 
positive  or  negative,  or  male  and  female  Principles)  constitute 
the  spiritual  Alpha  and  Omega  of  all  generative  forces,  so  it 
is  apprehended  that  their  physical  counterparts,  consisting  of 
the  forces  of  Expansion  and  Attraction,  may  be  found  to  main- 
tain an  equally  fundamental  relation  to  all  modifications  of 
force,  law,  and  operation,  existing  in  the  realm  of  created  Being. 


186  DUALISM     OF     FORCES. 

If  we  again  glance  at  the  systems  and  sub-systems  of  ope- 
ration which  nature  presents,  we  will  find  abundant  exemplifi- 
cations of  this  fact.  Thus,  as  the  forces  of  Expansion  and 
Contraction  proceeded  in  their  operations  in  the  primeval 
chaotic  mass,  the  particles  which  were  by  nature  fitted  to  re- 
main in  an  aeriform  or  ethereal  state,  and  those  which  were 
naturally  fitted  for  aggregation  into  dense  forms,  were  sepa- 
rated. The  latter  class  of  particles,  by  a  general  assemblage, 
first  formed  the  universal  nucleus,  and  then,  successively  the 
nebulous  rings,  segregated  masses,  and  stellar  and  planetary 
systems.  The  telescope  now  reveals  these  masses  of  conden- 
sible  materials  apparently  in  all  stages  of  progress  in  the 
heavens,  from  the  indefinitely  formed  and  irresolvable  nebula 
to  the  globular  cluster  of  stars.  This  latter  is  the  form  pecu- 
liar to  the  highest  possible  degree  of  cosmical  perfection,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  the  highest  natural  degree  of  cosmical  conden- 
sation ;  and  it  may  hence  be  supposed  to  be  accompanied  with 
the  highest  naturally  attainable  degree  of  levity  and  purity  in 
the  circumambient  ether.  But  these  states  are  ultimate 
achievements  of  the  joint  and  constant  action  of  the  fundamen- 
tal laws  of  EXPANSION  and  CONTRACTION. 

We  will  find,  on  due  consideration,  that  these  same  princi- 
ples apply  also  to  each  creation  included  in  the  cosmical, 
whether  it  be  organic  or  inorganic.  Thus,  in  the  Mineral 
World,  the  metallic  ore  that  is  now  segregated  into  distinct 
veins,  evidently  must  have  originally  existed  in  diffusion  in 
the  surrounding  rock.  The  particles  which  originally  occupied 
the  present  position  of  the  mineral  veins,  must  have  been  dis- 
persed by  a  force  of  expansion  (virtually  or  actually)  which  was 
precisely  equivalent  to  the  force  of  mutual  attraction  which 
brought  the  metalline  particles  together  in  their  place.  The 
same  tendency  of  kindred  and  originally  diffused  mineral  par- 


EXPANSION     AND     ATTRACTION.  187 

tides  to  draw  together  into  the  form  of  dense  masses,  is,  per- 
haps, still  more  forcibly  illustrated  by  the  flint  nodules  found 
in  beds  of  chalk,  and  which  are  generally  of  a  more  or  less 
rounded  form,  evidently  indicating  an  original  state  of  solution 
in  the  surrounding  mass,  from  which  they  have  become  con- 
densed, as  they  are  now  found. 

The  first  forms  assumed  by  the  vegetable  materials  that  exist 
in  the  world,  were  also  diffuse  and  chaotic.  Such  were  the 
marine  accretions  of  germinal  slime,  with  their  radical  fibers, 
and  subsequent  efflorescent,  simple,  and  microscopic  stems. 
Several  gradations  of  plants  as  they  rise  above  these,  are  still 
of  imperfect  exterior  forms,  of  a  loose  and  succulent  nature, 
and  of  an  internal  structure  entirely  cellular — indicating,  as 
yet,  but  small  progress  in  the  condensive  principle.  In  these, 
however,  the  whole  Vegetable  Kingdom  as  one  creation,  has 
its  incipient  and  rudimental  development.  Further  segrega- 
tions and  condensations  of  the  vegetative  elements  are  decid- 
edly manifested  in  the  subsequently  formed  terrestrial  plants 
possessing  a  vascular  tissue  and  ligneous  fiber.  But  as  crea- 
tion proceeds,  still  higher  forms,  possessing  more  marked  and 
widely  diversified  characteristics,  are  gradually  developed, 
until  the  flowering  and  dicotyledonous  plants  of  the  present 
era  came  into  being ;  and  these  show  the  closest  possible  con- 
nection of  congenial,  and  the  most  perfect  elimination  of 
heterogeneal  vegetable  elements.  Hence,  they  exhibit  the 
ultimate  degree  of  the  Condensive  and  Expansive  principle 
which  can  be  naturally  applied  to  the  Vegetable  Kingdom. 

In  the  Animal  Kingdom,  including  the  human,  the  same 
principles  are  distinctly  operative ;  and  this,  too,  both  with 
reference  to  the  individual  organism,  and  the  whole  collection 
of  living  beings.  Professor  Agassiz,  who  has  investigated  the 
subject  of  embryology  perhaps  more  thoroughly  than  any 


188  DUALISM     OF     FORCES. 

other  man,  tells  us,  that  after  the  fecundation  of  the  ovum  of 
any  animal,  and  its  division  into  cells  and  layers,  the  organ 
of  circulation  proceeds  to  its  incipient  development  from  the 
middle  layer  of  the  germ.  "  First,"  the  blood  appears  by  a 
simple  process  of  liquefaction  of  the  cells.  It  can  be  seen 
under  the  microscope  how  the  particles,  or  the  cells  of  that 
layer,  begin  to  loose  at  the  outer  margin,  and  to  move  between 
themselves,  and  to  run  in  particular  directions,  and  to  combine 
into  currents,  and  those  currents  to  assume  particular  direc- 
tions, before  there  is  a  heart,  and  before  there  are  blood-vessels.  It 
can  be  seen  in  every  chicken  under  so  low  a  magnifying  power, 
that  no  one  should  lose  the  opportunity  of  seeing  this  wonder- 
ful sight.  When  blood  corpuscules  move  from  the  center  toward 
the  margin  of  the  germ  [Expansion],  the  other  cells,  which  be- 
come loose  in  the  periphery  of  the  germ,  begin  to  move  toward 
the  center  [Contraction].  In  the  beginning,  there  being  no  cur- 
rent circulating,  the  two  collections  of  fluid  meet,  and  finally 
become  regular  currents,  by  means  of  channels  through  which 
the  blood  runs  for  a  regular  circulation* 

These  fundamental,  expansive,  contractive,  and  circulatory 
motions  are  subsidiary  to  the  development  of  a  fourth  opera- 
tion, by  which  affinitized  particles  floating  in  the  circulating 
menstruum  are  brought  into  conjunction,  and  deposited  in  the 
form  of  solid  tissues.  They  are  at  first  aggregated  on  all 
sides  of  the  circulating  channels,  and  form  the  blood-vessels, 
the  ramifications  of  which  (says  Agassiz)  are  at  first  constantly 

*  Agassiz'a  Lectures  on  Comparative  Embryology.  Here  we  have,  in  the  words  of 
one  who  wrote  without  any  view  to  the  distinctive  philosophy  of  the  present  treatise,  an 
illustration  of  the  successive  origins  of  the  laws  of  Expansion,  Contraction,  and  Circu- 
lation. Considering  these  facts  and  principles  as  equally  applicable,  on  a  large  acale, 
to  the  great  fecundated  germ  or  ovwn  of  the  cosmical  creation,  it  will  illustrate  per- 
fectly the  incipient  process  by  a  prolongation  of  which  the  universe  received  its  present 
mature  form. 


PROGRESS     OF     ORGANIZATION.  189 

changing.  But  one  portion  of  the  central  vessel  soon  "becomes 
enlarged,  and  assumes  the  form  of  a  simple  elongated  sack. 
This,  centralizing  and  expressing  in  itself  the  previously  diffused 
expansive  and  contractile  forces,  performs  a  constant  succession 
of  diastolic  and  systolic  motions,  and  constitutes  the  rudi- 
ment of  the  future  heart. 

Other  processions  from  the  blood-vessels  form,  in  like 
manner,  the  rudiments  of  the  alimentary  canal,  the  liver,  the 
lungs,  the  brain,  etc.  These,  by  a  constant  rejection  (through 
the  expansive  or  emanative  force)  of  particles  foreign  to  their 
respective  and  appropriate  composition,  and  as  constant  an 
attraction  and  appropriation  of  the  particles  which  they  need, 
finally  arrive  at  the  full  maturity  of  their  complex  structures, 
and  together,  form  the  complete  living  organism.  The  complete 
organism,  therefore,  manifests  the  perfection  of  elimination  of 
unsuitable  substances  from  each  particular  organ  (which  sub- 
stances, therefore,  go  to  form  other  organs  to  which  they  are 
suitable),  and  the  perfection  of  condensation  or  aggregation  in 
each  organ  of  those  substances  which  are  suitable  to  its  own 
composition. 

The  same  remarks  are,  in  principle,  applicable  to  the  whole 
animated  creation  as  to  one  grand  Form.  Its  first  and  lowest 
development,  as  shown  by  fossilology,  consisted  of  polypiaria 
and  other  radiated  forms.  Now,  the  polypi  of  a  coral  reef 
may  almost  be  considered  as  one  extended  animal,  with  little 
distinction  of  parts.  The  substances  and  functions  of  heart, 
stomach,  lungs,  brain,  etc.,  seem  to  be  iuterdifiused  and  con- 
founded with  each  other  in  such  a  way  that  one  portion  of  the 
structure  is  no  more  vital  than  another,  and  therefore,  into 
however  numerous  or  small  fragments  this  animal  substance 
may  become  divided  or  subdivided,  each  fragment,  still  chaot- 
ically embodying  in  itself  all  the  principles  of  vitality  and 


190  DUALISM      OF     FOECES. 

organization,  continues  to  live  and  grow  as  a  distinct  animal. 
It,  therefore,  corresponds  to  the  primitive  cellular  structure  of 
the  impregnated  ova  of  the  higher  animals.  In  the  higher 
forms  of  the  Radiata,  the  organs,  with  their  functional  opera- 
tions, are  perceptibly  more  distinct  from  each  other.  In  the 
Articulata,  there  is  still  more  definite  association  of  the  ele- 
ments of  organs  into  their  distinct  and  appropriate  forms ;  but 
this  association  is  still  so  imperfect,  that  if  the  lobster  or 
crab,  for  example,  loses  a  claw,  it  eliminates  from  other  por- 
tions of  its  system  elements  which  form  another  claw — thus 
showing  that  the  claw-principle,  so  to  speak,  previously  ex- 
isted undeveloped,  in  the  other  parts  of  the  organism,  by  a 
draft  upon  which  the  recuperation  is  now  produced.  And  so 
in  each  succeeding  class  in  the  ascending  scale  of  animal  crea- 
tions, heart  becomes  more  distinctly  heart,  brain  becomes 
more  distinctly  brain,  and  all  the  other  organs  become  corre- 
spondingly more  distinct  and  highly  developed,  and  more  free 
from  those  particles  which  properly  belong  to  other  organs, 
until  the  perfection  of  living  organization  is  attained  in  the 
perfected  human  form,  which  may  be  considered  as  the  whole 
Animal  Kingdom  in  the  aggregate,  with  something  more  be- 
sides. 

And  so,  reducing  these  specific  subjects  of  contemplation  to 
one  comprehensive  view,  it  may  be  said,  that  in  the  beginning 
the  material  elements  of  man,  animal,  vegetable,  mineral, 
planet,  sun,  and  firmament,  existed  in  common  interdiffusion 
in  the  great,  universal,  and  undistinguishable  mass  of  nebu- 
lous matter,  in  such  a  way  that  each  part  was  lost  in  all  other 
parts.  The  great  mass,  then,  formed,  as  it  were,  one  grand 
Polypus,  or  one  grand  ovum,  corresponding  to  the  ovum  of  an 
animal,  and  from  it,  after  fecundation,  and  by  means  of  a  con- 
stant incubative  and  superior  influence,  the  ultimate  develop- 


SP II  EKES     AND     SYMPATHY.  191 

ment  of  the  complex  system  in  its  mature  form,  was  to  arise. 
Materials  in  the  primitive  and  lowest  degree  of  refinement, 
draw  together  according  to  rudimental  affinities,  at  the  same 
time  evolving  their  uncondensible  elements,  and  thus  form 
vast  and  indefinite  nebulous  aggregation,  with  their  circum- 
ambient ether.  Further  evolutions  and  condensations,  and 
consequent  refinements,  form,  successively,  firmaments,  suns, 
planets,  mineral  aggregations,  plants,  animals,  and  finally  the 
bodies  of  human  beings — all  of  which,  from  first  to  last,  have 
directly  or  indirectly  collected  and  selected  their  materials 
from  the  great  mass  of  all  materials,  even  as  the  nodules  of 
flint,  before  spoken  of  as  embodied  in  the  strata  of  chalk,  have 
collected  their  component  silicious  particles  from  the  mass  of 
surrounding  materials  in  which  they  must  have  been  originally 
diffused ! 

The  fact  that,  in  the  process  of  all  formations,  there  is  an 
expansion  and  evolution  of  uncondensible  elements  from  the 
centers  of  their  chaotic  materials,  as  well  as  a  clustering 
around  central  nuclei,  of  those  particles  capable  of  constitut- 
ing the  tangible  structure  with  its  various  parts,  more  fully 
illustrates  the  doctrine  heretofore  advanced,  that  all  forms 
and  organisms,  from  stellar  assemblages,  individual  suns,  and 
planets,  to  crystals,  vegetables,  animals,  and  human  beings, 
are  surrounded  by  an  aromal  counterpart  or  "sphere."  It 
will  be  borne  in  mind,  that  it  is  by  the  inter-action  of  these 
aromal  counter  parts,  or  spheres  of  different  forms  and  organ- 
isms (and  which  are  always  expressive  of  the  specific  interior 
qualities  of  the  latter),  that  these  forms  and  organisms  are 
brought  into  what  may  be  called  "  magnetic  sympathy  "  with 
each  other ;  and  it  is  by  the  combined  aromal  spheres  of  all 
organisms,  forms,  and  systems,  that  the  great  inter-active 
nerve-aura  of  the  universe,  as  ont  Body,  is  made  up. 


192  DUALISM     OF     FORCES. 

The  expansions  and  emanations  from  centers  perpetually 
prevalent  throughout  the  whole  domain  of  forms  and  organ- 
isms, may  b'e  considered  as  one  general  diastole ;  while  the 
contractions  and  precipitations  upon  centers,  likewise  univer- 
sally prevalent,  may  be  considered  as  one  general  systole ; 
and  these  motions,  in  their  more  progressed  and  periodically 
alternating  forms,  are  expressed  in  the  secular  expansions  and 
contractions  of  planetary  orbits ;  in  the  oscillations  of  hea- 
venly bodies  between  their  aphelion  and  perihelion  points ;  in 
the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  tides ;  in  the  inspirations  and  ex- 
pirations of  plants ;  in  the  dilations  and  contractions  of  the 
human  heart;  and  in  the  breathings  and  'pulsations  of 
microscopic  forms  of  life,  which  spoit  in  a  single  drop  of 
water. 

In  attributing  thus  much  to  the  laws  of  Expansion  and 
Contraction  (or  Attraction),  it  is  not  by  any  means  intended 
to  supersede  the  septinary  divisions  of  laws,  as  presented  in 
preceding  pages.  Our  object  has  rather  been  to  show  that 
these  two  fundamental  laws,  being,  as  it  were,  male  and  fe- 
male in  conjugal  unity,  are  the  parents  and  grandparents  of 
all  other  laws.  Thus  it  is  from  a  combination  of  Expansive 
and  Contractive  movements  that  the  law  of  Circulation  im- 
mediately ensues  in  every  portion  of  the  creation,  even  as  the 
same  ensues  in  the  animal  and  human  systems,  from  the  ex- 
pansive and  contractile  motions  of  the  heart :  and  as  particles 
are  thus  made  to  flow  throughout  each  system,  and  are  placed 
in  general  intercommunication  with  other  particles,  there  is 
occasion  given  to  the  operation  of  the  fourth  law,  by  which 
mutually  affinitized  particles,  whether  in  organic  or  inorganic 
creations,  unite  together  and  form  the  tissues  of  the  perma- 
nent physical  structure.  Thence,  after  performing  their  ap- 
propriate offices,  and  undergoing  specific  refinements,  they  are 


DIVINE     LOVE     AND      WISDOM.  193 

taken  up  and  re-deposited  in  higher  and  more  complex  masses 
or  tissues,  or  excreted  entirely  from  the  system,  according  to 
the  fifth  law — the  law  of  segregation — the  same  being  also  ap- 
plicable, in  different  degrees,  to  each  creation ;  then  by  mu- 
tual impartations  of  essences  and  forces  between  these  masses 
or  tissues,  as  necessary  parts  or  organs  of  the  system,  a  sixth 
law  is  developed — the  law  of  universal  sympathy  and  har- 
monial  reciprocation.  Finally,  all  these  laws  and  operations, 
harmoniously  combined,  give  occasion  to  the  normal  manifes- 
tation of  the  seventh  and  highest  law — the  law  governing  the 
functions  of  the  complex  unity,  and  in  which  the  principles  of 
Love  and  Wisdom,  Heat  and  Light,  Expansion  and  Attrac- 
tion, with  all  their  modifications  and  subordinates,  are  em- 
braced in  unitary  form. 

As  these  Expansive  and  Attractive  operations  are  de- 
pendent upon  physical  Heat  and  Light,  and  these  are  ulti- 
mately dependent  for  their  generation  upon  spiritual  Heat 
and  Light,  which  are  conditions  of  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom, 
so  it  follows  that  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom  pervade  nature 
co-extensively  with  Expansive  and  Attractive  forces,  and  are 
the  fundamental  and  essential  constituents  of  the  life-principle 
which  inheres  in  every  form  of  being.  Things  live,  therefore, 
only  in  proportion  to  the  degree  in  which  they  are  recipients 
of  the  essences  and  forms  of  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom ;  and 
without  these,  all  things  would  be  dead. 

17 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

CIECLES. 

IT  was  before  shown  that  the  constant  Expansive  and 
Contractive  forces,  particularly  illustrated  in  the  previous 
chapter,  call  into  requisition  the  law  of  Circulation,  which 
gives  form  to  the  motion  of  particles  impelled  by  the 
previous  forces.  By  circulation  is  meant  a  proceeding  from 
a  given  point  or  condition,  and  finally  returning  to  the  same, 
whether  the  line  of  progression  described  by  the  movement 
is  mathematically  that  of  an  exact  circle  or  not ;  as  is  illus- 
trated by  the  flowing  of  blood  from  the  heart,  through  various 
channels  back  again  to  the  heart. 

But  it  is  here  to  be  particularly  observed  that  the  blood,  in 
passing  from  the  heart,  through  various  parts  of  the  system 
back  again  to  the  heart,  deposits  certain  portions  of  its  ele- 
ments in  various  fleshy  and  osseous  tissues  along  its  path. 
This  example,  taken  from  the  functional  operations  of  the 
Microcosm,  or  little  universe,  serves  as  a  sure  index  of  similar 
operations  which  occur  in  the  various  departments  of  the 
Macrocosm,  or  great  universe,  and  leads  to  the  remark, 
that  all  regularly  circulating  materials,  whether  in  the  human, 
the  animal,  the  vegetable,  the  mineral,  the  geognostic,  or  the 
astronomical  department  of  creation,  impart  certain  of  their 
elements  to  the  ambient  spaces  through  which  they  pass.  It 
is  by  the  aggregation  of  such  imparted  elements  that  all 
regularly  developed  forms  in  nature  have  their  being ;  and  as 


CIRCLES.  195 

f 

it  was  heretofore  shown  that  all  natural  movements  and  de- 
velopments observe  a  regular  serial  order  of  successive  gra- 
dations, it  follows,  from  the  law  of  Circulation,  that  this  serial 
order,  as  applicable  to  each  system  or  degree  of  nature,  must 
exemplify  the  circle.  This  idea  of  the  universality  of  the  cir- 
cular constitution  and  movements  of  things,  shall  now  be 
more  particularly  illustrated  by  facts. 

Extending  our  observations  to  the  heavenly  bodies,  we 
see  circular  motion  everywhere  prevailing.  Satellites  move 
around  planets,  planets  around  suns,  suns  around  still  greater 
suns,  and  an  extension  of  the  analogical  chain  renders  it,  as 
before  shown,  extremely  probable,  not  to  say  certain,  that 
all  secondary  bodies  in  universal  space,  revolve  in  common, 
around  one  grand  primitive  Center  and  Source  of  attraction. 
If  this  be  the  case,  then,  whatever  particular  movements  the 
secondary  bodies  may  have  assumed  from  the  development 
of  forms  of  internal  forces  peculiar  to  themselves,  these  move- 
ments are  subordinate  to  the  great  material  Source  of  move- 
ment, and  the  forces  by  which  they  occur  are  only  repro- 
ductions or  ascensions,  in  specific  and  modified  forms,  of  the 
forces  which  primarily  appertain  to  it. 

But  as  the  forces  producing  these  primitive  rotatory  and 
orbitual  motions  in  the  universe,  are  the  final  source  of  all 
those  diversified  ramifications  of  circular  movement,  which 
are  manifested  by  subordinate  systems,  suns,  and  planets,  so 
the  orbitual  and  rotatory  motions  of  planets  are  the  more  im- 
mediate parents  and  dependencies  of  still  more  diversified  and 
minute  systems  of  circular  development.  From  the  orbitual 
motion  of  the  earth,  for  instance  (and  the  fact  also  applies  to 
other  planets),  results  a  continually  repeated  circle  of  thermal 
changes,  which  mark  the  various  seasons  of  the  year.  These 
give  rise  to  the  various  annual  series  of  vegetable  and  other 


196 


CIRCLE  S. 


developments.  In  the  genial  heat  of  spring,  the  seed  that  has 
sunk  into  the  moist  vegetable  mould,  expands  and  puts  forth 
successively  the  stem,  the  branches,  the  leaves,  the  flower- 
buds,  the  flowers,  and  the  fruit  containing  seed  of  the  same 
species  of  that  from  which  the  plant  sprang.  Then,  as  the 
frosts  of  winter  begin  again  to  prevail,  the  life  of  the  plant 
becomes  extinct;  its  ripened  seeds  are  scattered  upon  the 
ground,  to  become  the  progenitors  of  other  plants  of  the  same 
kind,  and  the  materials  of  the  plant  also  sink  to  the  earth  to 
replenish  the  vegetable  mould  from  which  they  sprang.  Thus 
the  same  general  condition  is  again  brought  about  with  that 
from  which  the  first  plant  sprang;  and  the  germination, 
growth,  maturity,  and  decay  of  the  plant,  with  the  scattering 
of  its  seed  upon  the  earth,  exemplifies  a  complete  circle.  So 
with  the  putting  forth  of  the  foliage,  the  development  of  the 
blossoms  and  fruit,  and  the  final  hibernation  of  arborescent 
vegetation. 

Coincident,  also,  with  the  changes  of  the  seasons,  are  the 
periodical  awakenings  of  certain  animal  instincts,  and  also  the 
occurrence  of  certain  conditions  in  the  human,  physical,  and 
mental  economy.  These  changes,  occurring,  as  they  do,  in 
regular  serial  succession,  and  always  returning  to  the  point 
from  which  they  started,  exemplify,  also,  the  Circle. 

And  so,  from  the  alternations  of  day  and  night,  which,  with 
their  successive  hours  and  moments,  mark  a  diurnal  circle  of 
physical  changes,  still  more  minute  circles  of  change  ensue, 
in  the  economy  of  organic  beings.  Such  are  the  circles  of 
wakefulness  and  sleep  ;  of  activity  and  repose  ;  of  organic 
waste  and  recuperation,  with  all  their  intermediate  and 
transitional  stages,  whether  we  apply  the  remark  to  the 
vegetable,  the  animal,  or  the  human  creation.  And  it  may 
even  be  said  that  every  passage,  from  one  degree  or  stage  to 


CIRCLES.  .         197 

another,  in  the  progress  of  any  complete  circle  of  unfoldings, 
involves  a  circle  or  system  of  a  minuter  kind,  until  we  get 
down  to  the  physiological  functions  of  the  organism  of  an 
ephemeron,  to  the  circuit  of  blood  and  organic  deposits  in 
the  system  of  an  anamalcule,  or  to  the  orbitual  and  axial 
revolutions  of  an  atom. 

It  may  also  be  said  that  the  progression  from  the  origin  to 
the  dissolution  of  any  system,  or  to  its  passage  into  another 
form,  involves  the  circle;  and  this  is  equally  true  of  the 
universe  as  a  whole,  of  its  included  stellar  and  solar  systems 
and  individual  worlds,  and  of  the  further  ramifications  of  crea- 
tion, constituting  the  mineral,  vegetable,  animal,  and  human 
kingdoms,  together  with  their  various  genera,  species,  and  in- 
dividual forms,  respectively. 

The  minutest  of  these  circles  of  movement  and  develop- 
ment, are  included  in,  and  are,  in  some  sense,  dependent 
upon,  the  greater,  and  those  are  in  like  manner  included  in 
and  dependent  upon,  still  greater  (which,  therefore,  form 
circles  of  circles),  and  all  are  included  in  the  great  Circle 
which  comprehends  all  movements  and  developments  in  the 
universe,  from  its  periphery  to  its  center,  from  the  whole 
unimaginable  vortex  of  being  to  a  single  atom  of  matter, 
and  from  the  very  origin  to  the  very  end  of  all  material 
things. 

The  close  of  each  comprehensive  circle  of  operations  marks 
an  era,  not  only  in  its  own  history,  but  also  in  the  history  of 
its  included  circles,  which  are,  to  some  extent,  dependent  upon 
its  state  for  their  own  specific  states.  For  illustration,  the 
earth,  during  a  single  orbitual  revolution,  makes,  to  sense, 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  revolutions  on  its  own  axis,  occa- 
sioning the  same  number  of  repetitions  of  the  phenomena  of 
day  and  night.  But  these  days  and  nights,  or  circles  of  diur- 


198  CIECLES. 

nal  change,  vary  as  to  their  length,  temperature,  etc.,  with  the 
different  stages  of  progress  which  are  attained  in  the  annual 
circle  of  revolution.  But,  if  the  reasonings  of  Maedler  and 
others  are  to  be  relied  upon,  the  whole  Solar  System,  includ- 
ing the  earth,  is  sweeping  round  a  grand  common  center,  which 
is  so  distant,  that  a  single  orbitual  revolution  can  not  proba- 
bly be  accomplished  in  a  less  period  than  eighteen  millions 
of  years.  As  such  a  revolution  will  constitute  the  great  year 
of  the  solar  system,  it  is  extremely  probable  that  the  progress 
of  this  revolution  will  be  marked  with  changes  in  ethereal 
elements  which  affect  climate  and  the  various  circles  of  organic 
creation  upon  our  globe,  in  a  manner  analogous  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  orbitual  revolution  of  the  earth,  upon  the  length 
and  other  characteristics  of  the  days  and  nights,  and  thence, 
also,  upon  the  annual  developments  in  the  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal kingdoms.  This  gradual  alteration  of  the  position  of  the 
Solar  System  in  the  sidereal  spaces,  and  the  elemental  changes 
consequent  thereupon,  may  of  itself  be  sufficient  in  the  course 
of  time  to  work  an  entire  change  in  the  character  of  organic 
life  upon  our  globe ;  and  still  mightier  changes  in  still  mightier 
periods  of  time,  may  be  wrought  in  the  whole  aspect  of  crea- 
tion, physical  and  moral,  by  those  inconceivably  more  stu- 
pendous revolutions  to  which  all  of  these  are  subordinate.*  It 
is  by  the  combined  influences  of  all  other  circles  of  movement 
and  creation,  that  each  particular  circle  is  precisely  what  it  is; 
and  whenever  there  is  any  change  in  the  functional  operations 
of  any  portion  of  the  grand  system  of  Being,  or  of  any  of  its 
sub-systems,  physical,  mental,  or  moral,  there  is,  according  to 

*  Professor  Nichol  has  suggested  the  idea  that  the  marked  changes  of  climate,  and 
hence  of  the  organic  and  other  productions  of  the  earth,  which  occurred  during  tho 
geological  periods,  may  not  have  been  entirely  disconnected  with  the  movements  of 
the  solar  system  through  the  stellar  spaces.  (See  Nichol's  "  Architecture  of  the 
Heavens.") 


CIECLES.  199 

the  law  of  sympathy,  necessarily  some  co-related  change  in  all 
circles  of  operation  included  in  this,  however  inappreciable  to 
human  conceptions  that  change  may  be. 

Thus  do  we  see  that  the  great  system  of  universal  Nature, 
from  its  most  comprehensive  outlines  as  a  whole,  down  to  its 
infinitessimal  parts,  is  one  compact  system  of  co-related 
"  wheels  within  wheels,"  which  play  harmoniously  together,  as 
the  various  and  mutually  dependent  parts  of  a  most  sublime 
and  magnificent  Machine !  It  is  a  machine,  however,  which, 
notwithstanding  its  perfection  as  a  machine,  is  neither  abso- 
lutely self-propelling,  nor  can  it  evolve  its  appropriate  fabrics, 
and  thus  fulfill  the  designs  of  its  Maker,  without  the  constant 
and  intelligent  superintendence  of  a  superior  Power — even  the 
Power  from  which  it  received  its  origin— as  has  before  been 
intimated,  and  will  be  more  particularly  illustrated  hereafter. 

The  general  and  particular  numbers  of  progressive  grada- 
tions which  extend  from  beginnings  to  endings,  and  thus  con- 
stitute each  known  circle  of  developments,  or  each  known 
form  of  a  perfect  series,  that  is  inwoven  with  all  others  in  the 
texture  of  nature,  have  heretofore  been  maintained  to  be 
THREE  and  SEVEN.  The  reasons  for  considering  these  as  the 
numbers  of  perfection  applicable  to  every  complete  system  of 
being,  have  been  extensively  illustrated  in  foregoing  pages,  and 
need  not  be  repeated  in  this  place. 


CHAPTEE    XX. 

THE    DOCTEINE    OF    DEGBEES. 

THE  exposition  of  the  serial  and  circular  order  of  nature's 
operations  and  constituent  parts,  as  given  in  the  foregoing 
chapter,  prepares  us  for  the  more  full  comprehension  of  another 
doctrine,  which  is  of  no  less  importance  than  the  previous  one. 
I  refer  to  the  truth  that  each  complete  system  of  creation  and 
operation,  from  greatest  to  smallest,  together  with  the  whole 
realm  of  being  as  one  System,  is  resolvable  into  distinct  Degrees, 
associated  with  each  other  according  to  a  certain  definite  order 
— and  that  each  complete  System  as  one  comprehensive  De- 
gree, is  connected,  after  the  same  general  order,  with  the  one 
immediately  beneath,  and  that  immediately  above  it,  in  the 
general  scale.  This  doctrine  of  Degrees  has  been  constantly 
intimated  in  foregoing  discussions ;  but  its  importance  as  a 
general  guide  to  truth,  demands  for  it  a  more  direct  and  par- 
ticular illustration,  which  shall  now  be  given. 

The  writer's  theory  of  Degrees  was  formed  mainly  from  a 
direct  study  of  nature,  and  with  but  little  immediate  aid  from 
human  suggestions  beyond  what  was  contained  in  the  mere 
word  "  Degrees,"  as  applied  to  nature's  unfoldings  ;  but  when 
on  the  point  of  placing  the  present  work,  containing  a  chapter 
on  this  subject,  in  the  hands  of  the  printers,  my  attention  was 
called  by  a  friend  to  the  teachings  of  EMANUEL  SWEDENBORG 
on  the  same  subject.  So  far  as  I  understand  what  that  cele- 
brated philosopher  has  written  upon  this  theme,  I  am  delighted 


THE     DOCTRINE     OF     DEGREES.  201 

in  being  able  to  recognize  it  not  only  as  entirely  true,  but  highly 
interesting  and  important ;  at  the  same  time  that  I  find  in  it  a 
confirmation  of  the  principles  involved  in  my  previous  thoughts 
upon  the  same  subject.  This,  however,  is  said  without  the 
intention  to  intimate  any  opinion  as  to  the  truthfulness  or  un- 
truthfulness  of  the  general  writings  of  Swedenborg,  concerning 
which,  indeed,  I  know  comparatively  little. 

The  doctrine  of  Swedenborg  concerning  Degrees,  is  essen- 
tially similar  to  that  which  I  had  conceived,  the  main  differ- 
ence, aside  from  his  peculiar  terminology,  consisting  in  his 
exclusive  use  of  the  ternary  division,  whereas  I,  as  a  general 
rule,  use  the  septinary,  as  involving  the  ternary.  In  Sweden- 
borg's  writings,  however^  I  find  many  features  and  applications 
of  this  doctrine  of  which  I  had  not  before  conceived ;  while, 
in  my  own  previously  embodied  thoughts  upon  this  subject, 
there  were  ideas  which  I  have  not  yet  found  in  Swedenborg.  I 
am,  therefore,  induced  to  so  far  modify  the  chapter  I  had 
written  on  this  subject,  as  to  give  a  general  reflex  of  what  is 
essential  and  fundamental  in  both  forms  of  the  conception,  in 
doing  which  I  shall  so  far  change  my  own  previously  adopted 
terminology,  as  to  avoid  a>confounding  of  ideas  essentially 
different,  as  originating  with  the  Swedish  philosopher  and  my- 
self. 

Swedenborg  makes  Degrees  of  two  kinds,  viz.,  continuous 
Degrees,  or  Degrees  of  latitude,  and  discreet  Degrees,  or  De 
grees  of  altitude.  Continuous  Degrees,  or  Degrees  of  latitude, 
are  described  as  being  "  like  degrees  from  light  to  shade,  from, 
heat  to  cold,  from  hard  to  soft,  from  gross  to  subtle,  etc." 
But  Discreet  Degrees  are  described  as  "  entirely  different" 
from  these,  in  that "  they  are  in  the  relation  of  prior,  posterior, 
and  postreme,  or  of  end,  cause,  and  effect.  They  are  called 
Discreet  Degrees,"  continues  the  writer,  "  because  the  prior  is 


202  THE     DOCTEINE     OF     DEGREES. 

by  itself,  the  posterior  by  itself,  and  the  postreme  by  itself; 
but  still,  taken  together,  they  make  a  one." 

Further  illustrations  of  the  same  subject  are  given  as  fol- 
lows: "It  is  well  known  by  ocular  experience,  that  each 
muscle  in  the  human  body  consists  of  very  minute  fibers,  and 
that  these  fasciculated,  constitute  those  larger  ones,  called  mov- 
ing fibers,  and  that  bundles  of  these  produce  the  compound 
which  is  called  a  muscle.  It  is  the  same  with  the  nerves :  very 
small  nervous  fibers  are  put  together  into  larger  ones,  which 
appear  like  filaments,  and  by  a  collection  of  such  filaments  the 
nerve  is  produced.  It  is  also  the  same  in  the  other  compagi- 
nations,  confasciculations,  and  collections  of  which  the  organs 
and  viscera  consist;  for  these  are  compounds  of  fibers  and 
vessels,  variously  fashioned  by  similar  degrees.  The  case  is 
the  same  also  with  all  and  every  thing  of  the  Vegetable  King- 
dom, and  with  all  and  every  thing  of  the  Mineral  Kingdom ; 
in  wood  there  is  a  compagination  of  filaments  in  three-fold 
order ;  in  metals  and  stones  there  is  a  conglobation  of  parts 
also  in  three- fold  order.  These  considerations  show  the  nature 
of  Discreet  Degrees,  namely,  that  one  is  formed  from  another, 
and  by  means  of  the  second,  a  third,  or  composite ;  and  that 
each  Degree  is  discreet  from  another." 

Inasmuch  as  the  second  Degree  in  any  trhie,  proceeds  from 
the  first,  and  the  third  from  the  second,  it  was  also  taught  by 
Swedenborg,  that  "  the  first  Degree  is  all  in  all  in  the  subse- 
quent degrees ;"  and  that  "  the  ultimate  Degree  is  the  complex, 
continent,  and  basis,  of  the  prior  Degrees ;"  by  which  latter 
phrase  I  understand  to  be  meant,  that  in  the  ultimate  Degree, 
all  the  Degrees  receive  permanent,  potential,  and  utilized  em- 
bodiment. 

This  doctrine  of  Degrees  is  extended  by  Swedenborg  to 
every  department  of  existence,  whether  in  the  physical,  moral, 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  DEGREES.     203 

civil,  psychological  or  spiritual  worlds,  and  even  to  the  infinite 
Divine  Constitution  itself,  of  which  they  are  the  outbirths  and 
correspondences.  He,  indeed,  maintains  that  all  and  every 
thing  in  each  form  of  being,  from  greatest  to  smallest,  of 
which  triunity  may  be  predicated,  contains  Degrees  both  con- 
tinuous and  discreet.  He  maintains  that  the  knowledge  of 
Discreet  Degrees  is  of  the  greatest  philosophical  importance, 
and  that  one  who  adequately  possesses  it,  will  thereby  be 
enabled  to  see  causes  without  the  previous  indications  of  their 
effects,  and  may  even  form  accurate  conclusions  respecting 
things  invisible,  to  which  the  same  doctrine  of,  degrees  must 
necessarily  apply.* 

Such,  then,  is  the  doctrine  of  Degrees  as  taught  by 
Swedenborg.  But,  though  it  is  true,  so  far  as  it  goes,  I  am 
not  aware  that  it  even  claims  to  be  perfect  in  such  a  sense 
as  not  to  admit  into  its  composition  some  additional  con- 
siderations. I  do  not  suppose  that  Swedenborg  himself 
meant  to  convey  the  idea  that  each  one  of  his  Discreet  De- 
grees was  itself  an  absolutely  simple  unity  ;  and  it  is  highly 
probable  that  if  he  had  been  questioned  directly  on  the  sub- 
ject, he  would  have  admitted  that  each  one  of  these  was 
itself  of  a  three-fold  constitution,  especially  as  he  has  ap- 
parently carried,  the  doctrine  of  the  trine  down  even  to  in- 
finitesimals. 

Let  Swedenborg's  first  Discreet  Degree,  then,  stand  for 
what,  in  the  septinary  classifications  given  in  the  preceding 
pages,  has  been  called  the  "  Primary  Trinity ;"  let  his  second 
Degree  stand  for  our  "  Secondary  Trinity ;"  and  let  his  third, 
or  ultimate  Degree,  which  he  says  is  the  "  complex,  continent, 
and  basis  of  the  prior  degrees,"  stand  for  our  seventh  division, 

*  See  Swedenborg's  "  Divine  Love  and  Divine  Wisdom,"  from  No.  1T9  to  241. 


204  THE     DOCTRINE     OF     DEGREES. 

which  we  have  constantly,  though  in  other  terms,  represented 
as  the  complex,  continent,  and  basis  of  all  previous  divisions 
— and  this  view  without  the  slightest  violence  to  any  essential 
doctrine  of  Swedenborg,  will  bring  the  theory  of  Degrees  pre- 
cisely into  the  form  in  which  I  had  conceived  it.  I  believe 
that  while  Swedenborg  himself  maintained  that  triunity  was 
predicable  of  all  completeness,  he  also  distinctly  taught  that 
the  number  seven  was  the  common  number  of  completeness. 
Consistently  with  this,  then,  it  would  seem  that  he  could 
not  avoid  admitting  that  the  septinity  in  some  way  in- 
volved the  trine — of  the  truth  of  which  idea  a  very  small 
portion  of  the  existing  evidence  is  spread  through  the  fore- 
going pages. 

The  doctrine  of  Degrees  of  altitude,  then,  in  the  light  of 
principles  heretofore  established,  and  which  doubtless  Sweden- 
borg himself  would  have  admitted,  may  be  presented  in  the 
following  modified  form : 

Let  each  component  gradation  in  the  seven-fold  series  be 
called  an  Elemental  Degree. 

Let  each  Trinity  of  Elemental  Degrees  (the  Primary  and 
Secondary  Trinities,  as  distinguished  in  foregoing  pages)  be 
called  a  Discreet  Degree ;  and 

Let  each  seven-fold  series,  as  a  whole,  be  called  a  Complete 
Degree.  We  have  thus  Elemental  Degrees,  Discreet  De- 
grees, and  Complete  Degrees. 

For  example,  let  the  Mineral  Kingdom  be  considered  as 
one  Complete  Degree,  the  Vegetable  Kingdom  as  another, 
and  the  Animal  Kingdom  as  another ;  while  each  Trinity  of 
developments  in  each  of  those  Kingdoms,  as  before  repre- 
sented, is  considered  as  a  Discreet  Degree,  and  each  member 
of  each  of  those  Trinities  is  considered  as  an  Elemental  De- 
gree; and  the  whole  theory  of  Degrees  of  altitude  will 


THE  DOCTKINE  OF  DEGREES.     205 

appear  iii  a  general  and  particular  form  of  embodiment  that 
will  be  intelligible  to  most  minds. 

Each  Complete  Degree,  viewed  in  this  light,  will  appear 
connected  with  the  contiguous  Complete  Degree,  in  the  same 
way  as  each  Discreet  Degree  is  connected  with  its  contiguous 
Discreet  Degree,  and  as  each  Elemental  Degree  is  connected 
with  its  contiguous  Elemental  Degree ;  so  that  Nature,  as  a 
whole,  will  exhibit  the  same  ascending  order  of  Complete  De- 
grees (or  systems)  that  is  exhibited  by  the  Elemental  Degrees 
composing  any  seven-fold  series.  I  can  not  avoid  the  thought 
that  this  classification  of  Degrees,  duly  understood,  would 
present  a  new  and  important  aid  to  a  proper  comprehension 
of  the  ensemble,  as  well  as  the  particulars  of  nature,  with 
her  forces,  modes  of  operation,  and  mutual  relations  of 
parts. 

In  view  of  the  circular  constitution  and  order  of  procession 
of  each  system  of  being,  as  illustrated  in  the  chapter  im- 
mediately preceding  this,  we  are  prepared  to  further  remark, 
that  Degrees  of  altitude  of  each  of  these  kinds,  result  from  a 
spiral  uprising,  so  to  speak,  of  the  circle  of  development,  by 
which  the  first  Elemental  Degree  ascends  to  the  altitude  of  the 
second,  the  second  to  the  third,  and  so  on ;  or  by  which  the  first 
Discreet  Degree  progressively  rises  to  the  altitude  of  the 
second,  and  the  second  to  the  third,  and  by  which  one  whole 
circle  of  "developments,  in  being  completed,  thus  forming  a 
Complete  Degree,  passes  out  into  another  and  higher  circle  or 
Complete  Degree.  For  example,  one  octave  in  music,  which 
may  be  considered  as  a  series  of  Elemental  Degrees  of  sound, 
forms  one  Complete  Degree  of  sound,  and  each  other  octave 
forms  another  Complete  Degree,  superior  or  inferior  to  it,  ac- 
cording as  it  is  above  or  below  it ;  and  a  similar  remark  is 
applicable  to  the  Mineral,  Vegetable,  and  Animal  Kingdoms, 

18 


206  THE     DOCTRINE     OF     DEGREES. 

before  referred  to  as  contiguous  and  Complete  Degrees  of 
creation,  the  higher  of  which  arise,  in  some  sense  of  the  term 
"  progression,"  out  of  the  lower. 

Of  these  latter  Kingdoms  it  may  be  said,  that  they  are  all 
in  accord  with  each  other,  as  different  octaves  in  music  having 
the  same  key-note.  In  other  words,  each  Complete  Degree, 
Circle,  or  Kingdom,  seems  to  be,  member  by  member,  an  ex- 
act counterpart  of  the  others,  on  a  higher  or  lower  scale ;  and 
this  may  be  said  of  many  other  Complete  Degrees.  A  Com- 
plete Degree,  however,  may  take  its  rise  any  where  along  the 
circle  of  an  antecedent  Degree,  in  the  same  way  as  any  note 
in  an  octave  may  be  taken  as  the  initial  note  of  another  and 
independent  octave.  For  example,  it  was  shown  in  pre- 
ceding pages,  that  the  seven-fold  series  of  outer  terrestrial 
developments,  as  mentioned  by  Moses,  commenced  upon  the 
basis  of  the  third  development  in  the  comprehensive  geognos- 
tic  series,  which  had  been  before  described;  and  many 
more  examples  of  a  similar  kind  might  be  given  were  it 
necessary.  But  however  the  key-notes  of  different  octaves 
(or  Complete  Degrees)  of  natural  developments  may  differ, 
the  octaves  themselves  all  contain  the  same  number  of  parts, 
which  have  similar  relations  to  each  other,  and  occur  in  the 
same  order  of  succession ;  and  therefore  all  are  governed  by 
the  same  serial  and  gradational  law. 

The  doctrine  of  Degrees  might  receive  a  much  more  ex- 
tended illustration  and  application  than  is  exhibited  above, 
but  as  our  object  should  first  be  to  establish  general  prin- 
ciples, the  foregoing  must  suffice  for  the  present.  Owing  to 
its  novelty  and  somewhat  abstruse  nature,  this  doctrine 
may,  to  the  ordinary  reader,  be  at  first  somewhat  difficult 
of  full  comprehension;  but  I  can  confidently  assure  him, 
that  if,  by  the  little  perseverance  of  mental  effort  that  will 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  DEGREES.      207 

be  required,  he  succeeds  in  mastering  it,  he  will  find  that 
it  will  greatly  simplify  and  facilitate  investigation  in  every 
other  department  of  thought,  whether  in  physics,  psychology, 
theology,  or  as  relating  to  any  of  their  numerous  cognate 
subjects. 


CHAPTEE  XXI. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  CORRESPONDENCES. 

As  a  natural  sequence  of  the  doctrines  of  Serial  Circles,  and 
of  Degrees,  as  presented  in  the  foregoing  pages,  arises  that 
doctrine  of  CORRESPONDENCES  which  has  been  the  guide  to  so 
many  important  conclusions  set  forth  in  this  work.  All  per- 
fect Series,  Circles,  or  complete  Degrees  involved  in  the  sys- 
tem of  creation,  must,  of  course,  proceed  from  the  same  final 
Cause ;  and  as  they  must  thus  correspond  to  the  common  final 
Cause,  they  must  hence,  in  some  way,  correspond  to  each 
other.  Moreover,  every  complete  Degree  in  the  character  of 
a  Circle,  necessarily  involves  the  same  principles  of  constitu- 
tion with  all  other  Circles,  and  therefore  must,  in  the  general 
sense,  correspond  to  all  others,  whether  they  be  on  a  higher  or 
lower  scale.  And  as  each  circle  consists  of  the  same  number 
of  parts,  which  occur  in  the  same  order  of  sequence  and  rela- 
tions, so  each  part  of  any  circle  corresponds,  in  the  general 
sense,  to  the  similarly  disposed  parts  of  all  other  circles. 
Thus  it  is,  that  if  we  acquaint  ourselves  thoroughly  with  the 
characteristics  and  interior  principles  of  any  complete  circle 
or  Degree  in  nature,  we  may,  in  a  general  way,  make  it  the 
exponent  of  all  other  circles  or  complete  Degrees.  But  in 
order  to  pursue  this  correspond ential  method  of  investigation 
to  the  best  advantage,  and  with  the  most  accurate  results  in 
the  way  of  eliciting  truth,  we  must,  of  course,  have  a  due  re- 
gard to  the  relative  positions  in  the  whole  grand  scale  or 


CORRESPONDENCES.  209 

Circle  of  creation,  occupied  by  the  two  circles  which  are  the 
special  terms  of  comparison,  and  to  the  peculiarities  of  quality 
and  development  incident  to  their  respective  positions. 

The  comparison  exhibited  in  foregoing  pages,  between  Pri- 
mary and  Secondary  Trinities,  or  Discreet  Degrees,  as  they 
were  subsequently  called,  shows  that  there  exists  also  a  gene- 
ral and  particular  correspondence  between  them ;  but  this  cor- 
respondence is  not  so  perfect  as  that  which  exists,  generally 
and  particularly,  between  the  Complete  Degrees  or  Octaves  of 
natural  unfolding. 

It  may,  moreover,  be  said  that  any  two  creations,  forms,  or 
developments,  which  involve  the  same  principles  of  constitu- 
tion and  operation,  correspond  to  each  other,  however  various 
may  be  the  specific  departments  of  existence  in  which  they 
may  be  found.  An  identity  of  principles,  indeed,  is  the  essen- 
tial basis  of  correspondence  between  higher  and  lower,  or  be- 
tween ulterior  and  prior  developments ;  and  in  the  light  of  this 
fact,  all  forms  and  developments  in  the  material  and  exterior 
world  may  be  seen  to  correspond  even  to  things  of  a  spiritual 
nature ;  and  things  of  a  spiritual  nature  may,  on  the  other 
hand,  be  seen  to  correspond  to  them.  Indeed,  if  the  science 
of  Correspondences  were  duly  developed,  nature  would  ap- 
pear as  if  invested  with  ten  thousand  tongues,  which  would 
continually  be  vocal  with  instruction.  Every  kingdom  and 
form ;  every  shrub  and  tree ;  every  leaf  and  flower ;  every 
insect,  beast,  and  bird  ;  nay,  every  point  of  compass  and  angle 
of  direction  from  any  given  point,  and  every  curve,  circle, 
spiral,  or  other  mathematical  figure,  would  speak  a  distinct 
language,  and  discourse  of  a  separate  truth ;  and  the  whole 
grand  system  of  Nature  as  One,  would  continually  discourse 
of  its  Infinite  Divine  Author,  of  whose  creative  Wisdom  and 
Love  it  is  but  an  outer  expression  and  correspondent ! 


210  CORRESPONDENCES. 

The  doctrines  of  Series,  Circles,  Degrees,  and  correspond- 
ences, therefore,  if  properly  developed  and  understood,  would 
be  the  most  efficient  of  all  possible  aids  to  the  discovery  of 
that  grand  system  of  general  truth  whose  millions  of  parts  are 
all  harmonious,  mutually  explanatory,  and  corroborative,  of 
each  other.  Let  the  leading  minds  of  the  age,  then,  bestow 
due  attention  upon  the  development  of  these  principles  of  in- 
vestigation ;  and  in  proportion  as  they  are  comprehended  and 
applied  in  the  world,  the  conflicts  of  the  various  parties  in 
philosophy,  theology,  and  even  politics,  will  be  swallowed  up 
in  one  grand  and  harmonious  system  of  thought,  the  creden- 
tials of  whose  truthfulness  will  be  borne  upon  its  very  face,  to 
be  seen  and  read  of  all  men.  With  the  aid  of  such  a  system, 
properly  unfolded,  even  the  child  might  set  out  on  its  course 
of  progression,  with  the  unadulterated  truth,  and  even  the 
whole  truth — which,  though  at  first  in  a  diminished  form  of 
representation,  and  involved  in  comprehensive  generals,  would, 
as  the  mind  expanded,  gradually  magnify,  and  regularly  and 
harmoniously  unfold  into  particulars,  for  ever  and  ever.  The 
harmony  of  thoughts  thus  brought  about  in  the  world,  wrould, 
in  proportion  to  its  degree,  be  necessarily  accompanied  with  a 
more  intimate  and  spiritual  conjunction  with  the  Divine 
Source  of  all  harmony,  from  the  perpetual  inflowings  of  whose 
Love  and  Wisdom,  all  the  movements  of  human  society,  in 
common  with  the  movements  of  those  planetary  and  celestial 
spheres  which  now,  without  reservation,  own  the  Divine  sway, 
would  proceed  without  a  jar,  or  a  single  note  of  discord.  This 
would  be  the  long-looked  fbr,  and  long-prayed  for,  reign  of 
God  upon  earth ! 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

THE    DOCTEINE    OF    PEOGBESSIVE    DEVELOPMENT. 

ONE  important  object  of  this  treatise,  as  doubtless  has  been 
observed,  is  to  exhibit  the  connection  of  nature  with  her  in- 
terior, producing  Cause,  and  pervading  Life-force.  The  reader 
who  has  attentively  followed  us  in  the  previous  discussions 
having  a  bearing  upon  this  subject,  has  observed  that  our 
philosophy  has  uniformly  tended  to  the  idea  of  an  intelligent, 
voluntative  DIVINE  AGENCY,  as  concerned  in  the  origin  and 
government  of  the  outer  system  of  things.  But  as  our  object 
should  be  to  discover  truth  for  the  sake  of  truth,  irrespective 
of  its  character  or  consequences,  it  would  be  manifestly  in- 
consistent to  ignore  any  facts  or  manifest  principles  of  nature 
which  have  been  thought  by  any  party  in  philosophy  to 
militate  against  conclusions  such  as  those  exhibited  in  our 
previous  reasonings.  As  the  next  natural  step  t  beyond  the 
foregoing  investigations,  therefore,  we  proceed  to  briefly 
notice  the  merits  of  a  pending  controversy,  embracing,  sub- 
stantially, the  questions,  whether  the  system  of  nature  is  the 
result  of  the  operation  of  an  inherent  force  or  law  of  progressive 
development  ?  or  whether  it  is  the  result  of  a  series  of  special 
and  independent  exertions  of  Divine  Power,  with  little  or  nn 
regard  to  law  ?  Though  these  questions  suggest  two  opposite 
views,  neither  of  which  we  are  able  to  adopt  without  some 
important  qualifications,  it  is  proper  that  they  should  here  be 
exhibited,  together  with  the  main  features  of  the  discussions 


212  PROGRESSIVE     DEVELOPMENT. 

f 

they  have  engendered,  in  the  form  in  which  they  have  ex- 
tensively occupied  the  minds  of  philosophers  and  theo- 
logians of  late  years;  and  it  may  be,  that  in  the  light 
developed  by  their  conflicting  affirmative  and  negative 
arguments,  a  true  modi/led  theory  will  be  brought  into 
view. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  published  an  anonymous  work, 
entitled,  "  VESTIGES  OF  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OP  CREATION," 
in  which  the  idea  that  creation  is  the  natural  result  of  the 
operation  of  certain  fixed  laws,  is  ingeniously  maintained. 
Though  the  author  of  that  work  does  not  reject  the  idea  of  a 
remote,  he  rejects  that  of  an  immediate,  Divine  Agency,  as 
concerned  in  the  generation  and  government  of  the  outer 
forms  of  nature;  and  as  his  positions,  viewed  in  one  light, 
present,  unintentionally,  perhaps,  on  his  part,  a  condensed 
synopsis  of  the  whole  groundwork  of  the  pantheistic  and 
materialistic  philosophy,  it  is  proper  that  they  should  here 
be  summarily  exhibited. 

Assuming  the  correctness  of  the  nebular  theory  of  cosmical 
creations  (after  epitomizing,  in  a  cogent  and  felicitous  manner, 
the  prominent  points  of  evidence  on  which  this  theory  is 
based),  the  author  urges  this  theory  as  exhibiting  a  succession 
of  law-governed  changes,  by  which  primordial  matter  was 
resolved  into  stellar  systems,  solar  systems,  and  planets,  with 
all  their  present  general  and  particular  movements  in  space. 
The  facts  in  Chemistry  and  Geology  are  then  considered,  as 
showing  that  the  present  structure  and  physical  arrangements 
of  our  globe  (together  with  all  similar  globes  in  space) 
originated,  probably,  from  laws  governing  solid,  fluid,  and 
vaporiform  substances. 

The  progressive  and  law-determined  development,  also,  of 
organic  beings,  both  in  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms, 


VESTIGES     OF     CREATION.  213 

with  man  at  their  head,  is  then  maintained  by  arguments, 
of  the  more  important  of  which,  the  following  is  a  brief 
synopsis. 

1.  "We  have  seen  powerful  evidence,"  says  the  author, 
"  that  the  construction  of  this  globe  and  its  associates,  and 
inferentially  that  of  all  the   other  globes  of  space,  was  the 
result,  not  of  any  immediate  or  personal  exertion  on  the  part 
of  the  Deity,  but  of  natural  laws,  which  are  the  expressions 
of  his  will.    What  is  to  hinder  our  supposing  that  the  organic 
creation  is  also  the  result  of  natural  laws,  which  are  in  like 
manner  an  expression  of  his  will  1     More  than  this,  the  fact 
of  cosmical  arrangements  being  the  effect  of  natural  law,  is  a 
powerful  argument  for  the  organic  arrangements  being  so  like- 
wise; for  how  can  we  suppose  that  the  august  Being  who 
brought  all  these  countless  worlds  into  form  by  the  simple 
establishment  of  a  natural  principle,  flowing  from  his  mind, 
was  to  interfere  personally  and  specially  on  every  occasion 
when  a  new  shell-fish  or  reptile  was  to  be  introduced  into 
existence  on  one  of  these  worlds'?"     The  writer  further  argues 
that,  "  to  a  reasonable  mind,  the  Divine  attributes  must  ap- 
pear, not  diminished  or  reduced  in  any  way,  but  infinitely 
exalted,  by  supposing  a  creation  by  law." 

2.  The  writer  submits  that  the  progressive  succession  of 
organic  beings,  as  revealed  in  fossilology,  by  which  the  lower 
and  moret  simple  forms,  as  a  general  rule,  precede  the  higher 
and  more  complex,  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  hypothesis 
of  development  by   law;   whereas,   on   the   supposition  of 
special  Divine  exertions,  it  might  be  supposed  that  there 
would  have  been  many  specialities  of  Divine  creation,  as 
essentially  modifying  the  existing  order  of  things. 

3.  Particular  facts  and  analogies,  as  connected  with  the  or- 
ganic kingdoms,  seem  to  hint  that  forces  are  lodged  in  nature 


214:  PROGRESSIVE     DEVELOPMENT. 

from  which  the  simpler  species  in  the  vegetable  and  animal 
world  may,  under  certain  circumstances,  derive  their  origin. 
Reference  is  made  to  the  vegetable-like  forms  of  frost  on  the 
window,  and  to  the  shrub-like  form  of  crystallization  known 
to  chemistry  as  the  Arbor  Diance — also  to  the  vegetable-like 
forms  of  some  of  the  ordinary  appearances  of  the  electric 
fluid  ;  and  from  these  phenomena  the  writer  argues  the  prob- 
ability that  electricity  is  largely  concerned  in  the  origination 
and  growth,  not  only  of  crystals,  but  of  plants,  which  assume 
forms  according  to  specific  generative  and  other  conditions. 
Moreover,  the  growth  of  certain  plants  for  which  no  seeds 
were  sown,  and  in  situations  where  it  is  next  to  impossible 
that  such  seeds  could  have  existed,  is  thought  to  add  proba- 
bility to  the  theory  of  a  possible  spontaneous  germination  of 
vegetable  forms  without  the  ordinary  seminal  mode  of  origi- 
nation— pfovided  such  changes  are  suddenly  made  in  the  in- 
gredients and  conditions  of  a  soil  as  are  favorable  to  the 
development  of  organic  from  inorganic  forms.  The  author 
also  mentions  the  singular  facts  that  oats  cropped  down  so  as 
to  prolong  the  period  of  their  growth,  have  been  known  to 
progress,  by  regular  transmutation,  into  the  form  of  rye ;  and 
that  the  cabbage  is  known  to  be,  in  its  native  state,  a  trailing 
sea-side  plant,  totally  different  from  the  plant  in  its  cultivated 
form.  These  latter  facts,  with  others,  are  thought  to  strongly 
support  the  theory  of  a  transmutation  of  species  from  lower 
to  higher  forms. 

4.  The  formation  of  entozoa,  *or  animals  within  animals, 
where  their  eggs  could  not  possibly  have  been  deposited,  is 
thought  to  argue  powerfully  for  the  independent  generation  of 
the  lower  animal  forms,  when  certain  conditions  obtain  that  are 
favorable.  This  argument  is  thought  to  be  strengthened  by 
the  fact  that  insects  of  a  low  species  (the  acarus)  were  repeat- 


RUDIMENTARY     ORGANS.  215 

edly  produced  in  abundance,  apparently  solely  by  galvanic 
processes  instituted  by  Messrs.  Crosse  and  Weekes ;  and  in 
one  instance,  a  growth  of  fungi  of  a  beautiful  and  previously 
unknown  species,  was  produced  by  the  last  named  gentleman, 
by  the  same  process.* 

5.  Particular  features  of  animal  organization,  which  are  ap- 
parently useless  and  incidental,  are  also  adduced  in  support 
of  the  same  theory  of  law-development.  Thus  female  animals 
of  many  species  have  certain  organs  which  are  necessary  to 
their  sex  ;  while  the  same  organs  exist  rudimentally  in  the 
males,  to  whom  they  are  not  necessary.  "  For  example,"  says 
the  writer,  "  the  mammae  of  the  human  female,  by  whom 
these  organs  are  obviously  required,  also  exist  in  the  male, 
who  has  no  occasion  for  them.  It  might  be  supposed  that  in 
this  case  there  was  a  regard  to  uniformity  for  mere  appear- 
ance sake ;  but  that  no  such  principle  is  concerned,  appears 
from  a  much  more  remarkable  instance  connected  with  the 
marsupial  animals.  The  female  of  that  tribe  has  a  process  of 
bone  advancing  from  the  pubes,  for  the  support  of  her  pouch  ; 
and  this  also  appears  in  the  male  marsupial,  who  has  no  pouch, 
and  requires  none."  Other  animals,  and  especially  among 
those  which  form  links  between  lower  and  higher  orders  in  the 
scale  of  development,  have  the  rudiments  of  organs,  to  them 
unnecessary,  but  which  were  necessary  to  animals  beneath 
them  in  thev  scale  ;  but  of  facts  of  this  kind  I  need  not  give 
further  details.  These  abortive  and  rudimentary  organs,  ex- 


*  These  alleged  results  of  the  experiments  of  Messrs.  Crosse  and  Weekes,  were  at  first 
almost  universally  scouted  as  absurd  and  impossible ;  but  subsequent  repeated  experi- 
ments, performed  during  several  years,  seem  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  reality.  I 
perceive  by  a  late  communication,  published  in  the  newspapers,  from  Mr.  F.  F.  Ogden, 
United  States  Consul  at  Liverpool,  that  that  gentleman  has  recently  visited  the  labora- 
tory of  Mr.  Crosse,  and  became  entirely  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  wonderful  repre- 
sentations concerning  this  newly  produced  insect. 


216  PROGRESSIVE     DEVELOPMENT. 

isting  where  they  are  not  necessary,  must,  it  is  thought,  be 
regarded  as  blemishes  and  blunders,  on  the  supposition  that 
the  beings  who  possess  them  were  created  independently  and 
by  special  exertion ;  but  they  are  considered  as  precisely  what 
might  have  been  expected  on  the  supposition  that  creation  has 
proceeded  through  her  various  ramifications  and  transitional 
stages,  according  to  the  energizing  and  directing  influence  of  a 
uniform  law  of  development. 

In  further  illustration  and  support  of  the  theory  of  progres- 
sive development,  the  writer  quotes  the  following  startling 
passage  from  Fletcher's  Rudiments  of  Physiology,  in  which  it 
is  shown  that  the  general  forms,  and  the  order  of  succession, 
of  the  developments  in  the  animal  kingdom,  are  represented 
by  the  general  forms,  and  the  order  of  succession,  of  the  de- 
velopments of  the  human  foetus.  "It  is  a  fact"  (says  Dr. 
Fletcher),  "  of  the  highest  interest  and  moment  that,  as  the 
brain  of  every  tribe  of  animals  appears  to  pass,  during  its  de- 
velopment, in  succession  through  the  types  of  all  those  below 
it,  so  the  brain  of  man  passes  through  the  types  of  those  of 
every  tribe  in  the  creation.  It  represents,  accordingly,  before 
the  second  month  of  uterogestation,  that  of  an  avertebrated 
animal ;  at  the  second  month,  that  of  an  osseous  fish  ;  at  the 
third,  that  of  a  turtle ;  at  the  fourth,  that  of  a  bird ;  at  the 
fifth,  that  of  one  of  the  rodentia ;  at  the  sixth,  that  of  one  of 
the  ruminantia ;  at  the  seventh,  that  of  one  of  the  digitagrada ; 
at  the  eighth,  that  of  one  of  the  quadrumana ;  till,  at  length,  at 
the  ninth,  it  compasses  the  brain  of  man.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  say,"  continues  the  writer,  "  that  all  this  is  only  an 
approximation  to  the  truth ;  since  neither  is  the  brain  of  all 
osseous  fishes,  of  all  turtles,  of  all  birds,  nor  of  all  the  species 
of  any  of  the  above  order  of  mammals,  by  any  means  precisely 
the  same ;  nor  does  the  brain  of  the  human  foetus  at  any  time 


THEOKY     OF      ORGANIC     ASCENSION.        217 

precisely  resemble,  perhaps,  that  of  any  individual  whatever 
among  the  lower  animals.  Nevertheless,  it  may  be  said  to 
represent,  at  each  of  the  above-mentioned  periods,  the  aggre- 
gate, as  it  were,  of  the  brains  of  each  of  the  tribes  stated." 

Although  these  facts  were  stated  by  Dr.  Fletcher  without 
any  view  to  the  support  of  the  development-hypothesis  now 
under  consideration,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  series  of  animal 
forms  which  he  here  traces  as  representing  the  series  of  suc- 
cessive human  fo3tal  developments,  is  the  very  series  which,  in 
the  same  order  of  succession,  made  their  appearance  on  the 
globe  during  the  depositions  of  the  fossiliferous  rocks  from  the 
earliest  to  the  latest. 

The  foregoing  are  the  principal  arguments,  fortified  by  many 
minor  facts  and  considerations,  from  which  the  author  of  the 
"  Vestiges"  concludes  that  the  whole  system  of  creation,  with 
all  its  diversified  forms,  inanimate  and  animate,  from  its  first 
to  its  last  stage  of  unfolding,  was  brought  forth  under  the 
operation  of  one  grand  law  of  progressive  development,  by 
which  "  the  simplest  and  most  primitive  type  gave  birth  to  the 
type  next  above  it,"  by  which  "  this,  again,  produced  the  next 
higher,  and  so  on  to  the  very  highest,  the  stages  of  advance 
being  in  all  cases  very  small — namely,  from  one  species  only 
to  another,  so  that  the  phenomenon  has  always  been  of  a 
simple  and  modest  character."  He  considers  that  after  the 
production  of  the  first  and  lowest  animal  form,  the  higher 
type  was,  in  all  cases,  produced  from  the  lower,  according  to 
the  ordinary  process  of  generation,  and  that  its  superiority  to 
its  parent  was,  in  each  instance,  owing  to  a  prolongation  of 
the  process  of  utero-gestation,  aided  by  new  and  favorable 
circumstances,  by  which  the  form  next  superior  to  the  parent, 
in  the  pre-ordained  animal  scale,  was  attained.  A  similar 
principle  of  transmutation  was  applied  also  to  the  Vegetable 

19 


218  PROGRESSIVE     DEVELOPMENT. 

Kingdom,  by  which  it  was  thought  that  higher  forms  ascended 
from  lower,  until  the  highest  were  attained. 

A  theory  so  novel  and  startling  as  the  foregoing,  did  not,  of 
course,  escape  the  most  vigorous  opposition  from  adherents 
of  prevailing  theories  in  philosophy  and  theology.  This  oppo- 
sition was  specially  inspirited  by  the  alarm  which  was  taken 
by  the  dominant  theology,  which  considered  the  theory  in 
question  as  a  bold  invasion  of  her  assumed  prerogative  as 
a  generally  unquestionable  guide  in  matters  of  religious  faith. 
The  main  features  of  this  opposition  (which,  we  think,  was 
partly  just  and  partly  unjust)  require  here  to  be  briefly  repre- 
sented, together  with  the  essential  points  of  argument  in  the 
rejoinder  which  the  opposition  called  forth  from  the  author 
of  the  "  Vestiges." 

The  book  in  question  was  charged  with  a  "  direct  tendency 
to  expel  the  Almighty  from  the  universe  which  He  has  made 
— to  degrade  the  god-like  race  to  whom  He  has  intrusted  the 
development  and  appreciation  of  His  power,  and  to  render  the 
revelation  of  His  will  an  incredible  superstition ;"  and,  prob- 
ably with  quite  as  strong  a  desire  to  neutralize  this  alleged 
tendency  considered  in  the  abstract,  as  to  develop  truth 
regardless  of  its  consequences,  its  essential  idea  was  pro- 
nounced "  an  opinion  which  has  not  a  single  fact  in  its  favor — 
which  stands  in  direct  opposition  to  all  the  analogies  of  nature 
— which  is  repugnant  to  the  best  feelings  of  mankind,  and 
subversive  of  all  our  most  cherished  convictions — a  fraud  com- 
mitted upon  the  reason,  and  an  insult  cast  upon  the  dignity  of 
our  species."* 

The  zeal  of  the  prominent  opposers  of  this  work,  and  their 

*  North  British  Keview  for  July,  1845. 


NEBULAE     THEORY     OPPOSED.  219 

devotion  to  the  one  grand  object  of  putting  it  down,  as  indi- 
cated in  these  and  similar  denunciatory  expressions,  may,  in 
some  instances,  have  caused  them  to  unconsciously  magnify 
the  seeming  evidences  against  the  theory  it  propounded,  and 
as  unconsciously  to  underrate  any  real  evidence  which  may 
exist  in  its  favor.  Candor  requires,  therefore,  that  we  should 
look  at  the  merits  of  this,  as  well  as  of  all  controversies  of  a 
similar  nature,  aside  from  all  mere  denunciation  such  as  novel 
theories,  true  or  false,  are  ever  apt  to  provoke — and  in  the 
light  of  the  plain  facts  and  arguments  which  bear  upon  the 
case,  by  whichsoever  party  these  may  be  urged. 

The  nebular  hypothesis  of  cosmical  creations  urged  by  the 
author  of  the  "  Vestiges,"  as  the  initial  portion  of  the  univer- 
sal system  of  creation  supposed  by  him  to  be  unfolded  by 
law,  was  objected  to  mainly  on  the  ground  that  the  Earl  of 
Rosse's  telescope  had  succeeded  in  resolving  into  stars  certain 
nebula  which  were  before  considered  irresolvable,  and  in  con- 
siderably changing  the  apparent  form  and  outlines  of  others, 
which  had  previously  appeared  such  as  to  countenance  the  idea 
of  agglomerating  and  rotating  masses.  In  view  of  such 
"  unequivocal  facts,"  one  principal  reviewer  regards  it  as  a 
"  most  unwarrantable  assumption  to  suppose  that  there  are  in 
the  heavenly  spaces  any  masses  of  matter  different  from  solid 
bodies  composing  planetary  systems."  To  this  our  author 
replies  that  the  resolution  of  a  great  quantity  of  previously 
unresolved  nebulae,  by  Lord  Rosse's  telescope,  "  was,  of  course, 
to  be  expected,  and  it  is  a  fact,  though  in  itself  interesting,  of 
no  consequence  to  the  nebular  hypothesis."  There  are  still 
many  nebula  which  even  the  stupendous  powers  of  Lord 
Rosse's  instrument  do  not  sensibly  affect,  and  which  probably 
no  increase  of  optical  power  ever  to  be  attained  by  human 
science  or  art,  would  be  adequate  to  resolve.  But  the  present 


220  PROGRESSIVE     DEVELOPMENT. 

position  of  the  nebular  theory  in  respect  to  its  philosophical 
credibility,  is  more  fully  represented  in  a  previous  portion  of 
this  work. 

The  theory  of  progressive  succession  in  the  organic  king- 
doms, as  advocated  by  the  "  Vestiges,"  is  disputed  mainly  on 
the  following  grounds :  First,  that  fishes  of  a  high  organization 
occur  (as  it  is  said)  in  the  oldest  of  the  fossiliferous  rocks ; 
secondly,  that  in  several  instances  the  passage  from  a  lower  to 
a  higher  system  of  rocks,  is  accompanied  by  an  abrupt  and 
entire  transition  in  the  organic  kingdoms,  exhibiting  none  of 
the  links  of  progressive  gradation  which  the  theory  of  the 
"  Vestiges"  supposes  to  exist ;  and  thirdly,  that  in  some  in- 
stances several  widely  different  and  previously  unknown 
species  seem  to  have  been  introduced  at  about  the  same  epoch, 
with  apparently  no  links  of  connection  between  them. 

To  the  allegation  that  fishes  of  a  high  organization  occur  in 
the  oldest  of  the  fossiliferous  rocks,  the  author  of  the  "  Ves- 
tiges," in  his  sequel  to  that  work,  replies  by  quotations  from 
geologists,  showing  a  discrepancy  in  their  statements  upon  this 
point,  which,  however,  he  shows  may  be  explained  by  the  fact, 
that  since  the  statements  of  some  of  them  were  put  forth,  "  the 
lower  fossiliferous  rocks  have  been  divided  into  several  dis- 
tinct formations,  in  the  lowest  of  which  it  is  fully  admitted 
there  are  no  vertebrata.  He,  moreover,  argues  that  the 
cephalopoda  and  gasteropoda,  mollusks  of  a  high  organization, 
whose  remains  are  found  in  the  oldest  series  of  fossiliferous 
rocks,  might,  as  transmuted  species,  have  come  in  soon  after 
the  commencement  of  the  formation  of  those  rocks,  as  owing 
to  a  "  rapidity  of  generation  "  and  "  rush  of  life,"  which  is 
sometimes  characteristic  of  certain  of  the  lower  orders  of 
animals. 

In  answer  to  the  argument  which  negatives  the  idea  of 


OBSERVATIONS     GENERALIZED.  221 

4 

connecting  links  between  lower  and  higher  species,  and  be- 
tween widely  dissimilar  species  existing  in  the  same  system 
of  deposits,  he  generalizes  the  field  of  geological  observation, 
and  finds  particular  systems,  both  of  rocks  and  their  con- 
tained fossils,  more  fully  and  particularly  represented  in  some 
localities  than  others.  By  the  facts  which  he  develops  in  this 
branch  of  the  discussion,  he  succeeds  in  materially  weakening, 
though  perhaps  not  entirely  disproving,  the  assumptions  of  his 
opponents,  that  the  character  of  organic  life  has  been  subject 
to  frequent  abrupt  and  entire  changes.  He  considers  it  prob- 
able, moreover,  that  "  development  has  not  proceeded,  as 
usually  assumed,  upon  a  single  line,  which  would  require  all 
the  animals  to  be  placed  one  after  another,  but  in  a  plurality 
of  lines,  in  which  the  orders,  and  even  minuter  subdivisions 
of  each  class  are  ranged  side  by  side ;"  and  he  argues  that 
"  the  development  of  these  various  lines  has  proceeded  inde- 
pendently in  various  regions  of  the  earth,  so  as  to  lead  to  • 
forms  not  everywhere  so  like  as  to  fall  within  our  ideas 
of  specific  character,  but  generally,  or  in  some  more  vague 
degree,  alike." 

Upon  the  whole,. the  author  reasserts  his  main  position  with 
so  much  force  and  ingenuity,  and  brings  to  it  such  an  accession 
of  evidence  from  the  testimonies  of  geologists  and  naturalists, 
as  apparently  to  render  the  general  onslaught  of  his  opponents, 
for  the  most  part,  a  failure;  and  perhaps  it  would  not  be 
unfair  to  consider  their  subsequent  silence  as,  in  some  degree, 
a  tacit  admission  of  this  fact. 

Though  the  author  of  the  "  Vestiges"  acknowledges  that 
God  is,  in  some  sense,  ever  present  with  his  creation,  and 
supports  and  rules  it  by  his  Providence,  he  admits  this  merely 
as  the  intimation  of  an  internal  sense  or  feeling,  for  which  he 
does  not  pretend  to  have  any  philosophy.  But  in  the  absence 


222  PROGRESSIVE     DEVELOPMENT. 

of  such  a  philosophy,  those  who  have  not  this  internal  feeling 
of  the  presence  and  overruling  Providence  of  God  (as  many 
have  not),  very  naturally  employ  the  whole  force  of  facts  and 
arguments,  such  as^have  a  very  thorough  development  in  the 
book  referred  to,  in  support  of  the  idea  that  nature  develops 
all  her  forms  and  phenomena,  by  an  inherent  force  of  her  own, 
independent  of  any  superior  influence,  as  received  from  a 
Source  without  herself.  Such  theories  can,  of  course,  be  suc- 
cessfully met  only  by  the  weapons  of  a  cogent  and  well- 
grounded  philosophy,  as  relating  to  the  matters  in  dispute ; 
but  as  such  a  philosophy  does  not  yet  prevail,  to  any  extent, 
in  the  world,  it  hence  follows,  as  a  fact  much  to  be  lamented, 
that  faith  in  God  and  his  overruling  and  universal  Providences, 
is,  to  a  large  extent,  at  the  mercy  of  pantheistic  and  material- 
istic philosophies.  Such  philosophies  are  hence  continually 
growing  more  rife  and  rampant ;  and  when  those  who  know 
for  themselves,  from  intuition,  that  there  is  a  God  ever  present 
with,  and  ever  ruling,  the  affairs  of  creation,  find  themselves  in- 
competent to  meet  the  arguments  for  the  opposing  views,  they 
are  apt  to  grow  impatient,  and  to  descend  to  mere  ridicule 
and  denunciation,  and  sometimes  even  to  misrepresentation — 
a  mode  of  treatment  which  seldom  fails  to  excite  the  con- 
tempt of  those  toward  whom  it  is  aimed,  and  even  to  confirm 
them  in  their  anti-religious  theories. 

Common  sense  should  teach  every  one  that  it  is  worse  than 
useless — nay,  perverse  and  wicked — to  close  his  eyes  to  plain 
facts  in  nature,  whatever  may  be  their  apparent  theological  or 
philosophical  bearings ;  and  whoever  would  do  such  an  act,  is 
plainly  not  so  much  devoted  to  the  furtherance  of  truth  as  he 
is  to  the  maintenance  of  his  own  opinions.  Looking  fully  in 
the  face,  therefore,  as  in  duty  bound  to  do,  all  the  clearly 
established  facts  exhibited  by. the  "Vestiges  of  Creation,"  as 


DISCREPANCIES     TO     BE     HARMONIZED.     223 

well  as  every  other  species  of  fact,  let  us  see  whether  the 
general  philosophy  of  this  work  will  afford  any  light  by  which 
outer  appearances,  reflecting  a  natural  law  or  force  of  develop- 
ment, and  the  interior  sense  of  the  human  soul,  respecting  the 
constant  presence  of  God,  and  the  exertion  of  his  upholding 
and  directing  power,  may  be  rationally  harmonized.  By  way 
of  attempting  the  solution  of  all  apparent  discrepancies,  as 
involved  in  these  subjects,  we  will,  in  the  following  pages, 
endeavor  to  unfold  the  true  theory  of  law  agency  and  Divine 
agency,  as  it  appears  to  us. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

FUKTHEK   VIEW   OP   THE   SYSTEM    OF    LIVING    FOEMS,   AS   SUG- 
GESTING   ITS    MODE    OF    DEVELOPMENT 

'HAD  the  author  of  the  "Vestiges  of  Creation"  and  his 
opponents  both  understood  the  doctrine  of  Series,  Degrees, 
and  Correspondences,  as  unfolded  in  the  preceding  pages  of 
this  work,  and  had  they  duly  observed  the  indications  of  these 
doctrines  in  regard  to  the  origin,  constitution,  and  laws  of 
nature,  the  relations  of  visible  effects  to  invisible  and  spiritual 
causes,  and  the  relations  of  the  universe  and  all  its  sub-serial 
and  corresponding  parts,  to  the  Infinite  Divine  Spirit,  as  the 
Projector,  Originator,  and  Vitalizer  of  all,  they  might,  by  a 
mutual,  and  in  that  case  obviously  required,  modification  of 
their  views,  have  come  to  a  perfect  agreement  on  all  essential 
points,  without  compromising  any  true  principle  of  theological 
faith,  or  disregarding  any  real  fact  in  science  or  true  principle 
in  philosophy.  The  view  which,  as  it  appears  to  me,  recon- 
ciles all  real  scientific  facts,  ancl  all  true  philosophical  and 
theological  principles,  I  will  now  proceed  to  briefly  unfold. 

I  will  premise  by  saying  that  the  idea  of  progression,  as  a 
general  fact  connected  with  the  origin  and  movements  of 
creation,  as  a  whole,  and  with  the  origin  and  movements  of 
each  of  its  sub-serial  and  correspondent  parts,  seems  to  be 
necessarily  involved  in  the  idea  of  successive  movements  or 
unfoldings,  from  beginnings  toward  predetermined  ends. 
Every  successive  movement  or  effort  is  a  closer  approximation 


PROGRESSION     AND     RETROGRESSION.     225 

to  the  proposed  end  of  the  whole  series  of  movements,  and  is 
therefore  a  decided  progress  from  a  previous  and  more  rudi- 
mental  state  or  position.  Accordingly  all  philosophy  and  all 
revelation  concur  in  the  acknowledgment  that  creation,  from 
its  incipient  to  its  present  stage  of  development,  has  passed 
through  a  regular  series  of  progressive  unfoldings ;  and  this 
fact  is  recognized  as  applying  equally  to  the  cosmical  universe, 
to  the  geological  formations,  and  to  the  various  systems  of 
organic  forms,  beginning  with  the  lowest  and  ending  with  the 
highest,  whose  remains  have  been  successively  entombed  in 
the  rocks. 

It  is  true  there  are  occasional  and  apparent  exceptions  to 
this  rule — occasional  instances  of  particular  retrogression  on 
the  one  hand,  and  irregular  and  abnormal  advances  on  the 
other ;  but  these  are  owing  to  local  circumstances  and  isolated 
influences,  and  when  properly  understood,  they  prove,  rather 
than  disprove,  the  general  rule.  The  idea  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  following  simile :  Let  a  number  of  vessels,  of  different 
classes,  be  supposed  to  sail  from  the  same  port,  at  the  same 
time,  and  bound  to  the  same  place  of  destination.  Wafted  by 
the  same  breezes,  and  floated  by  the  same  tides,  they,  for  a 
time,  make  nearly  equal  progress,  sail  in  nearly  parallel  paths, 
and  generally  keep  each  others  company.  But  owing  to 
slight  diversities  in  their  sailing  qualities,  and  incidental  dif- 
ferences in  their  modes  of  manoeuvring,  their  courses  grad- 
ually diverge  from  each  other,  and  they  get  into  different 
currents  of  ocean  and  of  atmosphere,  some  of  which  are  pro- 
pitious and  some  the  reverse.  They  are  then  farther  dispersed 
by  hurricanes;  some  of  them,  by  violent  gales  occurring 
only  in  their  own  localities,  may  be  driven  hundreds  of  miles 
out  of  their  course,  or  in  a  retrograde  direction ;  a  few  of 
them  may  be  driven  upon  rocks  or  quicksands,  and  lost  out 


226  SYSTEM     OF     LIVING     FOKMS. 

right ;  while  others  may  be  driven  forward  with  equal  vio- 
lence, and  reach  their  destined  haven  in  an  apparently  irreg- 
ularly short  period  of  time.  Of  course  no  one  would  con- 
sider the  diversities  in  the  fates  and  successes  of  these  different 
vessels,  or  the  fact  that  some  were  for  a  time  driven  back- 
ward, that  some  were  lost  outright,  and  that  others  were 
driven  forward  with  a  velocity  which  seemed  to  set  all  idea 
of  a  regularly  graduated  motion  at  defiance,  as  any  proof 
against  a  general  law  of  progression,  as  applied  to  the  sailing 
of  ships  from  port  to  port,  but  the  proof  would,  upon  the 
whole,  be  the  reverse. 

Allow  these  ships,  then,  to  represent  an  equal  number  of 
Divine  archetypes,  or  pre-existing  ideal  *  forms  of  creation,  so 
to  speak,  which  set  out,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  upon 
the  voyage  of  progressive  development,  all  being  bound  to 
one  haven,  viz..  the  realization  of  the  clothing  of  an  exterior 
form ;  the  diversities  in  their  movements,  presented  in  the 
retardations  and  temporary  retrogressions  of  some,  and  the 
fi-tful  and  apparently  preternatural  accelerations  of  others,  as 
owing  to  the  various  currents  and  counter-currents  of  outer 
influences,  no  more  disprove  the  law  of  general  progression, 
with  reference  to  them,  than  similar  diversities  of  movement 
prove  the  same  thing  with  reference  to  the  ships.  When  we, 
therefore,  find  a  few  local  examples  of  vertebral  fishes  among 
some  of  the  strata  of  the  first  series  of  fossiliferous  rocks,  or 
when  we  find,  in  one  or  two  instances,  the  remains  t)f  a 
diminutive  air-breathing  reptile,  in  an  upper  member  of  the 
Old  Red  Sandstone  series,  where,  as  it  is  stated,  such  have 
recently  been  found;*  or  when,  in  human  history,  we  find 
examples  of  whole  nations  and  races  remaining  apparently 
stationary  for  thousands  of  years,  while  others  have,  at  early 
*  See  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal  for  April,  1852,  pp.  853-4. 


EMBRYONIC     FOKMS.  227 

periods,  come  to  a  high  state  of  advancement  in  art,  govern- 
ment, and  social  refinement,  which  were  again  succeeded  by 
universal  ignorance  and  barbarism — we  are  not  to  consider 
these  examples  as  contradicting  the  doctrine  of  progression, 
as  a  general  principle,  but  as  only  the  particular  and  local  ex- 
ceptions to  the  direct  development  of  that  piinciple  in  outer 
forms. 

Keeping  in  view,  then,  the  doctrine  of  general  Progression 
as  an  undeniable  principle  applicable  to  the  universal  series 
of  creation  as  a  whole,  and  to  all  its  included  and  correspond- 
ing sub- series,  we  are  prepared  for  further  inquiries  respecting 
the  order  and  method  of  progression,  and  the  mutual  relations 
of  the  different  parts  or  degrees  of  each  series  of  creation  to 
which  this  principle  applies.  In  making  these  inquiries,  our 
attention  will  be  confined  for  the  present  to  the  Animal  King- 
dom, which  will  serve  as  a  representative  of  all  other  serial 
creations. 

The  fact  alluded  to  by  the  author  of  the  "  Vestiges  of  Crea- 
tion," that  in  the  reproduction  of  the  higher  animals  and  of 
man,  the  embryo  passes  through  successive  stages  of  develop- 
ment, in  which  the  types  of  all  the  lower  animals,  beginning 
with  the  fish  (or,  as  some  say,  with  the  annalid  or  worm),  are 
represented  in  succession,  until  its  own  proper  type  is  attained, 
is  certainly  of  great  significance,  as  it  bears  upon  the  subject 
under  consideration.  But  Professor  Agassiz  has  made  some 
further  discoveries  in  the  department  of  embryology,  which 
would  perhaps  go  to  emphasize  the  conclusions  to  which  this 
fact  would  seem  naturally  to  point.  I  would  refer  now  par- 
ticularly to  the  discovery  that  the  embryos  of  animals  of  cer- 
tain existing  families  bear,  at  a  certain  stage  of  their  foetal 
progress,  a  distinct  resemblance  to  the  perfected  individuals 
of  now  extinct  species  of  the  same  families,  which  existed  in 


228  SYSTEM     OF     LIVING     FORMS. 

early  geological  periods.  From  his  remark's  on  this  subject, 
I  submit  the  following  quotations  : 

"  Embryology,"  says  he,  "  by  the  metamorphoses  which 
take  place  in  animals,  assigns  now  a  value  to  external  forms, 
and  not  only  assigns  them  a  value,  but  a  chronological  value, 
by  which  it  is  possible  to  consider  as  lower  those  animals 
which  agree  with  the  earlier  forms  of  the  germs."  .  .  ...  . 

"  The  class  of  fishes  which  I  have  studied  more  particularly, 
has  shown  me  that  the  first  types  appeared  under  forms,  and 
with  an  organization,  peculiar  to  embryos  of  that  very  class  in 
the  present  epoch,  proving  thereby,  with  perfect  evidence,  the 
inferiority  of  the  first  created  types,  as  well  in  their  peculiar 
class  as  in  their  department.  But  though  of  a  lower  order, 
these  types  of  ancient  ages  bore  in  themselves,  from  the  be- 
ginning, the  impression  of  the  plan  that  was  to  be  successively 
developed  in  the  different  epochs  which  have  preceded  the 
order  of  things  existing  at  present,  and  by  whose  'realization 
have  been  brought  about  those  numerous  families  of  Fishes, 
Eeptiles,  Birds,  and  Mammalia,  which  now  live  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth."  Again :  "  All  the  information  about  the 
fossils — all  the  information  of  former  ages,  will  have  to  be 
compared  with  those  embryonic  forms,  in  order  to  understand 
more  fully  the  analogy  which  exists  between  these  earlier 
types,  and  the  successive  changes  which  those  of  our  day  un- 
dergo to  assume  their  final  form.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  we 
shall  obtain  from  sketches  of  those  embryonic  forms,  more 
correct  figures  of  fossil  animals  than  have  been  acquired  by 
actual  restoration."* 

These  extracts  from  one  who  is  an  advocate  of  the  idea  of 
creations  de  novo  at  different  geological  epochs,  certainly  argue 

*  Agassi's  "  Lectures  on  Comparative  Embryology,"  delivered  before  the  Lowell  In- 
stitute. Boston.  Lee.  xii. 


FACTS     IN     EMBEYOLOGY.  229 

much  for  a  connection  of  some  kind  between  the  lower  and 
higher,  or  extinct  and  living,  species  of  animals  of  the  same 
families,  and  pretty  clearly  show  that  the  higher  and  existing 
species  are,  in  many  instances,  the  result  of  an  extension  of  the 
identical  gestative  process  which,  in  its  lower  stages,  was  exem- 
plified in  the  ancient  species.  Such  being  the  existing  evidence 
of  a  connection  between  ancient  and  modern  species  of  the 
same  families  and  genera,  and  that  the  modern  species  exist, 
at  least  as  a  progressed  sequence  of  the  principles  involved  in 
the  ancient,  we  will  now  quote  from  the  same  author  some 
further  illustrations  of  the  analogies  and  connections  existing 
between  the  different  and  successively  created  divisions  of  the 
Animal  Kingdom  as  a  whole,  with  man  at  its  head  : 

*  The  unity  of  structure  in  vertebrated  animals,"  says  he, 
"  has  been  understood,  and  well  understood,  long  before  Em- 
bryology had  added  any  thing  to  show  how  deep  this  unity  of 
plan  was  impressed  on  that  type.  By  the  investigations  of 
Comparative  Anatomy,  it  had  been  ascertained  that  the  external 
differences  which  characterize  the  class  of  Fishes,  that  of  Rep- 
tiles, that  of  Birds,  and  that  of  Mammalia,  were  only  modifi 
cations  of  one  and  the  same  structure — that  the  head  of  Fishes, 
for  example,  though  apparently  so  different  from  that  of  Man, 
was  made  up  of  the  same  bones,  arranged  in  the  same  man- 
ner, only  sub-divided  into  more  distinct  points  of  ossifica- 
tion, with  modified  proportions,  most  of  them  remaining 
movable  for  life,  but,  after  all,  arranged  upon  the  same  uniform 
plan." 

In  a  previous  paragraph,  the  same  author  says :  "  It  was  in 
Physiology,  a  great  discovery,  when  it  was  ascertained  that 
all  Vertebrata,  that  Fishes,  as  well  as  Reptiles,  as  well  *  as 
Birds,  as  well  as  Mammalia,  arose  from  eggs,  which  have  one 
and  the  same  uniform  structure  in  the  beginning,  and  proceed 

20 


230  SYSTEM     OF     LIVING     FORMS. 

to  produce  animals  as  widely  different  as  they  are  in  the  full- 
grown  state,  simply  by  successive,  gradual  metamorphoses ; 
and  these  metamorphoses  upon  one  and  the  same  plan,  accord- 
ing to  one  and  the  same  general  progress."  Again :  "  It  may 
therefore  be  said,  with  perfect  propriety,  that  the  higher  Ver- 
tebrates undergo  changes,  through  which,  in  different  periods 
of  their  life,  they  resemble  the  lower  ones ;  that  there  is  a 
period  when  the  young  bird  has  not  only  the  form,  but  the 
structure,  and  even  the  fins,  which  characterize  the  Fish.  And 
of  the  young  Mammals  the  same  may  be  said.  There  is  a 
period  in  the  structure  of  the  young  Rabbit  (in  which  the  in- 
vestigations have  been  traced  more  extensively  than  in  other 
species),  when  the  young  Rabbit  resembles  so  closely  the 
Fish,  that  it  even  has  gills,  living  in  a  sac  full  of  water,  breath- 
ing as  Fishes  da  So  that  the  resemblance  is  as  complete  as 
it  can  be,  though  each  of  these  types  grows  to  a  complication 
of  structure,  by  which  the  young  Mammal,  for  instance,  leav- 
ing behind  this  low  organization  of  the  lower  types,  rises  to  a 
complication  of  structure,  to  higher  and  higher  degrees,  and  to 
that  eminence  even  which  characterizes  mankind."* 

These  facts  certainly  show  a  unity  of  plan  and  a  progressive 
succession,  of,  in  some  sense,  mutually  dependent  forms,  in  the 
system  of  animated  nature,  which  countenances  the  idea  that 
the  whole  creation  of  lower  animals  is,  as  it  were,  the  foetus 
of  the  whole  human  creation,  and  that  the  latter  was  thus  de- 
veloped by  a  process  somewhat  resembling  that  which  the 
author  of  the  "  Vestiges  of  Creation"  supposed  to  have  taken 
place,  and  which  he  calls  "  the  universal  gestation  of  Nature  ;" 
yet  we  shall  soon  see  that,  so  far  from  this  theory  dispensing 
with  the  agency  of  a  God,  this  universal  gestative  process 
could  not  have  proceeded  even  through  its  first  stages,  without 
*  Lectures  on  Comparative  Embryology,  Lee.  xiL 


THE     GREAT     TREE.  231 

the  constant  influx  of  a  vitalizing  and  energizing  Influence 
from  above  all  nature,  and  hence  from  a  source  absolutely 
Divine. 

It  may  here  be  remarked  that  these  facts,  developed  by  the 
researches  of  palaeontologists,  embryologists,  and  physiolo- 
gists, concerning  the  relations  and  order  of  succession  of  the 
different  divisions  of  the  animated  tribes,  are  in  perfect  agree- 
ment with  the  general  mode  of  philosophizing  presented  in  this 
work,  by  which  all  general  facts  in  each  system  of  creation, 
and  all  systems  of  creation  as  grand  facts,  are  arranged  in  a 
harmonious  serial  order  of  progression,  in  such  a  way  as  to 
show  a  thread  of  unity  and  correspondence  running  through  all 
systems,  and  through  the  grand  system  of  systems,  from  the 
very  origin  to  the  very  ultimates  of  all  things. 

This  scheme  of  creation  brings  the  Animal  Kingdom,  as  well 
as  the  Vegetable,  and  all  other  complete  systems  of  creation, 
together  with  the  grand  System  of  all  systems,  under  the 
analogy  of  a  TREE,  with  its  seven  serial  and  progressive  parts, 
consisting  of  Roots,  Trunk,  Branches ;  Leaves,  Flower-buds, 
Blossoms,  and  FRUIT.  It  is  thus  strongly  hinted  that  the 
whole  universal  System  of  creation,  with  all  its  corresponding" 
sub-systems,  including  the  Vegetable  and  Animal  Kingdoms, 
while  under  the  constant  vitalizing  and  voluntative  influx  of 
Divine  Love  and  Wisdom,  which  are  spiritual  Heat  and  Light, 
grew  up,  as  it  were,  from  Germ  to  ultimates,  in  the  same  pro- 
gressive and  sequential  order  in  which  the  tree  grows  from 
root  to  fruit,  under  the  constant  influx  of  solar  heat  and  light, 
which  are  the  natural  correspondents  of  Divine  Love  and  Wis- 
dom. 

But  if  this  view  is  admitted,  it  will  not  of  itself  necessarily 
decide  the  question  as  to  whether  each  higher  creation  was  in 
all  cases  developed  from  the  parentage  of  the  one  immedi- 


232  SYSTEM     OF     LIVING     FOBMS. 

ately  below  it  in  the  series  to  which  it  belongs.  There  is,  ap- 
parently, one  exception  to  this  order  of  parental  extraction  in 
the  developed  parts  of  the  superiorly  organized  tree :  The 
flower-buds,  though  they  are  the  next  superior  development 
to  the  leaves,  are  not  an  outgrowth  from  the  leaves,  but,  in 
common  with  these,  they  are  the  next  superior  outgrowth  from 
the  branches ;  and  'the  leaves,  after  performing  their  specific 
functions,  die  and  drop  off,  without  giving  rise  to  any  succeed- 
ing and  superior  form  of  developments.  The  flower-buds  are 
undoubtedly  an  ascension  of  the  same  essences  and  principles 
which,  stopping  one  step  short  of  them,  produce  the  leaves, 
and  which,  in  each  case,  ascend  from  all  the  preceding  devel- 
opments of  the  tree  as  represented  in  roots,  trunk,  and 
branches. 

It  should  be  remarked,  however,  that  in  a  less  perfect  class 
of  vegetable  forms — the  cryptogamia — the  organs  of  fructifi- 
cation, involving,  of  course,  the  principles  of  the  bud,  are  de- 
veloped upon  the  leaves,  which,  in  this  instance,  shows  the 
relations  of  parent  and  offspring  between  the  two  develop- 
ments, and  preserves  the  succession  between  them  un- 
broken. 

Concerning  the  genesis  of  the  Animal  Kingdom,  then,  as 
well  as  that  of  all  other  Series  and  Degrees  of  creation,  it 
may,  so  far  as  the  known  analogies  of  nature  are  concerned, 
and  without  in  either  case  affecting  our  views  of  the  Divine 
agency,  be  consistently  believed,  either  that  the  higher  tribes 
in  the  Animal  Kingdom  (as  well  as  in  the  Vegetable  and 
other  Degrees  of  Creation),  at  certain  periods,  and  under  cer- 
tain revolutionary  conditions  or  Divine  impulsions  hereafter 
to  be  explained — proceeded  by  orderly  descent,  from  the  tribes 
next  below  them,  as  their  natural  parents — or  that  they  pro- 
ceeded, at  the  same  periods  and  under  the  same  conditions, 


GENESIS     OF     ANIMAL     KINGDOM.  233 

from  the  aggregate  of  all  preceding  developments  of  nature,  as 
constituting  their  general  material  germ,  while  they  had  no 
special  lineal  connection  with  the  forms  next  below  them  in 
the  series.  Either  of  these  suppositions  would  sufficiently 
comport  with  the  unity  of  the  general  plan  which  we  have 
before  observed  to  pervade  the  works  of  creation.  The 
probability  is,  however,  that  both  of  these  modes  of  pro- 
duction were,  to  some  extent,  observed  in  the  origination  of 
the  ensemble  of  the  Animal  and  other  Kingdoms;  but  in 
neither  case  is  it  probable  that  any  form  or  creation  was  un- 
folded, except  upon  the  basis  of  a  suitable  preceding  develop- 
ment, which,  in  some  sense,  served  as  its  material  germ,  or 
predisposing  condition  of  development. 

Unless  we  adopt  some  such  theory  as  here  propounded, 
many  natural  facts — facts  which  the  cause  of  true  theology 
and  religion  can  never  be  subserved  by  denying — will  remain 
entirely  inexplicable. 


CHAPTER   XXIY. 

LAW  AGENCY  AND  DIVINE  AGENCY. 

IN  the  light  of  the  foregoing  remarks  respecting  the  order, 
successive  developments,  and  relations  of  the  organic  tribes, 
let  us  now  press  to  a  final  and  more  specific  decision,  the 
question,  whether  the  system  of  Creation,  as  it  now  stands, 
came  to  exist,  in  any  sense,  through  the  operations  of  Law  1 — 
and  if  so,  in  what  sense,  and  with  what  accompanying  con- 
clusions relative  to  the  doctrine  of  Providences,  or  of  Divine 
interpositions  ? 

But  that  we  may  pursue  this  inquiry  intelligibly,  we  must 
obviously  first  define  precisely  what  we  mean  by  the  term 
"  Law."  Law,  as  it  is  jinderstood  by  the  best  authorities, 
means  simply  a  rule  of  action,  or  a  definite  mode  or  method 
in  which  force  and  motion  proceed  toward  the  accomplish- 
ment of  an  end.  It  is  not,  therefore,  of  itself,  either  force  or 
motion,  but  only  the  rule  of  action  which  these,  in  their 
operations,  are  made  to  observe. 

Now  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  there  is  no  force  or 
motion,  either  in  the  universe  of  matter  or  the  universe  of 
mind,  which,  in  its  operations,  does  not  observe  some  rule, 
some  method,  and  hence  some  law.  If,  indeed,  there  could  be 
any  action  or  motion  without  method  or  law,  that  action  or 
motion  would  necessarily  be  chaotic,  and  would  tend  directly 
to  the  total  subversion  of  all  law  and  order,  and  thus  to  reduce 
all  things  to  chaos.  It  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  conceive  a 


UNIVERSALITY     OF     LAW.  235 

thought,  except  in  accordance  with  some  law  of  thought. 
Nay,  it  is  self-evidently  impossible  even  for  the  Infinite  Mind 
to  conceive  a  thought,  or  put  forth  an  action,  except  in  con- 
nection with  some  definite  mode  or  form,  and  hence  law,  of 
procedure  which  that  thought  or  action  spontaneously  assumes. 
In  the  Infinite  Mind,  therefore,  Law,  in  its  spiritual  sense,  is 
self-existent  and  eternal.  Thence  it  proceeds,  by  volition,  in 
outer  creations,  and  assumes  the  forms  of  what  are  termed  the 
"laws  of  nature."  These,  as  modes,  or  rules  of  material 
motion,  commence  at  the  lowest  and  most  chaotic  germs  of 
the  physical  universe,  and  (being  constantly  supplied  by 
voluntative  and  higher  inflowings  from  their  Infinite  Spiritual 
Source)  proceed  in  regular  order  of  ascending  development, 
through  all  subsequent  motions  and  creations,  until,  in  the 
heights  of  the  celestial  universe,  creation  again  merges  itself 
in  that  Infinite  Divine  Essence  from  which  it  originally 
sprang.  And  as  all  motions  are  in  accordance  with  some  de- 
finite rule,  method,  or  law,  hence  all  forms,  creations,  and  con- 
ditions, from  lowest  material  to  the  highest  spiritual  and 
celestial,  which,  in  regular  serial  orders,  are  developed  by 
means  of  those  motions,  are  necessarily  law-developed  and 
law-governed.  If  this  were  not  so,  then  creation,  indeed, 
would  not  exhibit  any  system  or  method  in  its  arrangements, 
such  as  is  now  apparent  throughout  its  whole  domains,  but 
the  various  forms  of  which  it  is  composed,  would  necessarily 
be  totally  disconnected  and  confused. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  idea  of  law  as  governing 
the  processes  of  creation  obtains  predominance  in  proportion 
to  the  development  of  the  human  mind.  Thus  the  child  con- 
ceives that  the  grass  is  made  to  grow  by  an  abstract  interpo- 
sition of  the  power  of  God,  with  which  he  is  unable  to  connect 
any  idea  of  law.  But  as  his  mind  unfolds,  and  the  field  of 


236     LAW    AGENCY    AND    DIVINE    AGENCY. 

his  observation  extends,  he  discovers  that  grass  grows,  in  all 
cases,  under  certain  given  conditions,  and  hence  grows  accord- 
ing to  a  fixed  rule.  He  still,  perhaps,  believes  that  God,  by  a 
direct  and  isolated  fiat  of  His  will,  causes  the  rain  to  fall,  the 
thunder  to  peal,  and  the  lightning  to  flash  ;  but  a  further  de- 
velopment of  his  mind  corrects  this  impression,  and  shows 
him  that  the  rains,  the  thunders,  and  the  lightnings,  are  de- 
pendent upon  a  more  general  administration  of  the  Divine 
Power  through  atmospheric  and  electric  media  and  conditions. 
He  still,  perhaps,  imagines  that  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets 
are  made  to  pursue  their  courses  in  the  heavens  by  the  direct 
volitionary  effort  of  God  concentrated  specifically  and  ab- 
stractly upon  them ;  but  when  his  mind  is  introduced  to  the 
series  of  demonstrations  presented  in  the  science  of  Astrono- 
my, he  perceives  that  all  these  phenomena  are  in  accordance 
with  a  general  method  in  which  all  aggregations  of  matter  in 
free  space  act.  He  still  probably  believes  (according  to  a 
common,  and,  as  we  have  before  shown,  an  erroneous  inter- 
pretation of  Sacred  Scripture)  that  the  earth  on  which  he 
dwells  was  directly  spoken  into  existence  by  God,  in  the  space 
of  six  .literal  days,  about  six  thousand  years  ago ;  but  wThen 
he  attains  a  more  enlarged  understanding  of  the  mechanical 
and  chemical  forces  which  God  has  incorporated  in  the  system 
of  nature,  and  reads  the  physical  history  of  our  planet  as 
written  upon  the  .rocks,  he  perceives  that  our  globe  has  been 
brought  from  a  primeval  chaotic,  to  its  present  perfected  state, 
by  means  of  fixed  methods  of  operation  of  matter,  expressed 
by  the  terms,  "  condensation,"  "  abrasion,"  "  deposition,"  "  se- 
gregation," etc.  And  if  the  hypothesis  (seemingly  supported 
by  all  analogy)  that  vegetable,  animal,  and  even  human  or- 
ganisms, came  to  exist  through  the  instrumentality  of  equally 
fixed  and  unvarying  laws,  is  now  met  by  storms  of  opposi- 


LAW     AND     FOKCE.  237 

tion  and  ridicule,  it  should  be  remembered  that  precisely 
similar  opposition,  based  upon  precisely  the  same  grounds, 
attended  a  similar  announcement  when  first  made,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  origin  and  modus  operandi  of  many  forms  and  de- 
partments of  nature  concerning  which  the  announcement  is 
now  fully  admitted  to  have  been  true;  and  the  final  triumphs 
of  Astronomy  and  Geology  over  the  dragon  of  unscriptural, 
as  well  as  unphilosophical,  opposition,  which  stood  before  their 
parents  to  devour  them  as  soon  as  they  were  born,  should 
stand  as  a  warning  against  a  too  hasty  decision  unfavorable  to 
law-developments,  as  applied  to  all  other  departments,  organic 
and  even  spiritual,  as  well  as  inorganic  and  material. 

Yet,  when  it  is  asserted  that  all  things,  as  to  their  creation 
and  functional  operations,  are  within  the  governing  influences 
of  law,  the  sense  in  which  we  have  defined  the  term  "  law," 
should  be  distinctly  borne  in  mind ;  and  for  the  sake  of  more 
explicitness  on  this  point,  as  well  as  to  show  that  our  position 
involves  no  objectionable  theological  corrolaries,  we  will  here 
submit  a  few  more  considerations  respecting  it. 

I  have  said  that  Law  is  not  of  itself/orce  or  motion — hence, 
that  it  can  create  nothing  or  do  nothing  of  itself;  but  that  it 
is  simply  the  mode  or  rule  by  which  force  and  motion  act. 
Hence,  when  we  speak  of  the  "  law  of  Expansion,"  for  instance, 
we  refer  only  to  a  mode  of  operation  among  particles  or 
substances,  which  is  expressed  by  the  term  "  Expansion  ;" 
when  we  speak  of  the  "  law  of  Gravitation,"  we  only  refer  to 
that  particular  mode  of  action  among  materials  which  the  term 
"  gravitation"  defines.  And  we  have  a  similar  meaning  when 
we  speak  of  any  other  law.  But  the  Force  by  which  the  ac- 
tion-, proceeding  according  to  these  various  laws,  is  generated, 
remains  yet  to  be  accounted  for ;  and  this  we  will  now  attempt 
to  do,  at  the  same  time  that  we  attempt  to  illustrate  how 


238       LAW    AGENCY    AND    DIVINE    AGENCY. 

modes  or  laws  of  action  came  to  be  such  as  we  see  them.  The 
remarks  now  to  be  offered  will,  at  the  same  time,  illustrate 
the  direct  agency  which  God  has  in  the  process  of  creation,  and 
furnish  the  foundation  of  a  true  understanding  of  the  doctrine 
of  Providence. 

One  feature  of  the  present  subject  has  already  been  pre- 
sented, under  an  illustration  which  may  again  be  called  up,  and 
carried  out  into  further  particulars.  A  builder,  before  pro- 
ceeding to  the  outer  construction  of  an  edifice,  first  conceives 
the  general  plan,  and  ideally  perceives  the  general  appearance 
of  that  edifice  in  his  own  mind.  This  conception  is  the  arche- 
type or  pattern  according  to  which  the  edifice,  as  an  outer  ob- 
ject, is  to  be  erected  ;  and  its  erection  is  a  mere  clothing  of  the 
archetype  or  pattern,  with  outer  material  investiture.  But  this 
clothing  of  the  archetype  can  not  be  accomplished  except  by 
the  voluntative  and  energizing  influence  of  the  soul,  spirit,  or 
mind  of  the  builder  acting  among  the  materials  to  be  wrought 
into  the  physical  structure,  which  action  may  be  either  through 
the  medium  of  the  builder's  own  muscles,  through  the  minds 
and  muscles  of  others,  to  whom  his  commands  may  be  given, 
or  through  a  suitable  machine  which  he  has  previously  de- 
signed and  prepared.  And  when  the  building  is  thus  erected, 
it  stands  as  an  exact  correspondent  and  embodiment  of  that 
particular  form  and  degree  of  intelligence  and  volition,  which 
were  requisite  to  the  conception  of  its  plan,  and  the  con- 
joining of  its  materials.  After  the  building  is  finished, 
however,  the  builder  withdraws  all  further  action  and  influ- 
ence from  it,  and  it  is  left  as  a  mass  of  perfectly  dead  and 
motionless  materials  ;  but  could  he  permanently  infix  in 
it  such  portions  or  degrees  of  his  own  energizing  spiritual 
essence  as  would  be  requisite  to  keep  it  in  repair,  and  to  con- 
stantly refine  and  improve  it,  and  to  develop  its  ultimate 


CLOTHING  OF  ARCHETYPES.        239 

• 

purposes,  the  building  would  in  that  case  be  a  living  crea- 
tion. 

Now  it  was  logically  proved,  in  another  part  of  this  work, 
that  the  Universe,  or  the  whole  great  Kingdom  of  materiality 
which  it  comprises,  is  not  self-existent  and  eternal,  but  that  it 
as  necessarily  had  a  beginning  as  any  human  or  other  physical 
organism  had — that  it  is  therefore  necessarily  dependent  upon 
an  antecedent  and  correspondent  existence  as  its  Cause,  which 
must  have  been,  not  inferior,  but  superior,  to  itself,  even  as 
the  natural  sun  is  superior  to  the  plant  which  its  beams  cause 
to  grow.  Being  thus  superior  to,  and  the  cause  of,  the  whole 
of  material  existence,  we  were  forced  to  conceive  of  it  as  a 
tf/^ir-material,  swper-universal,  and  hence  spiritual  Existence, 
of  which  intelligence,  personality,  and  hence  Divinity,  are 
predicable. 

This  spiritual,  intelligent,  personal  Divinity,  whom  we  call 
God,  then,  being  antecedent  to,  and  the  Cause  of,  the  univer- 
sal system  of  creation,  and  sustaining  toward  it  the  same  re- 
lation which  an  earthly  builder  sustains  toward  a  house  pro- 
posed to  be  erected,  must,  in  like  manner,  with  the  latter, 
have  conceived  in  his  own  mind  the  archetypes  or  patterns 
of  the  universal  structure,  with  all  its  included  kingdoms, 
systems,  series,  degrees,  species,  .and  essential  forms,  from 
lowest  to  highest,  before  proceeding  to  clothe  these  with  outer 
investiture.  And  as  in  the  mind  of  the  human  builder,  the 
archetypes  of  the  proposed  house  are,  as  it  were,  the  spiritual 
nuclei  around  which,  by  his  own  volitionary  effort,  the  ma- 
terials are  made  to  cluster,  and  thus  finally  establish  the 
structure  as  an  outer  creation,  so  in  the  mind  of  the  Deity, 
the  archetypes  of  the  Universal  Structure,  of  Solar  Systems, 
of  Geological  Developments,  of  Mineral  Kingdoms,  Vegetable 
Kingdoms,  Animal  Kingdoms,  and  the  universal  Human 


240      LAW    AGENCY    AND    DIVINE    AGENCY. 

creation,with  all  the  specific  and  essential  forms  which  these 
respectively  include,  were  the  spiritual  nuclei,  and  pre- 
existent,  interior  realities,  around  which,  by  the  force  of  con- 
stant Divine  volition,  the  requisite  particles  and  essences  are 
made  to  cluster,  by  way  of  establishing  them  in  outer  and 
tangible  forms. 

Now,  both  with  the  human  builder  and  his  house,  and  the 
Divine  Builder  a^d  the  system  of  the  universe,  the  arche- 
types conceived  in  the  mind,  constituted  the  laws  or  rules  by 
which  outer  materials  acted  in  their  aggregations  into  outer 
forms ;  while,  in  both  cases,  the  force  by  which  those  ma- 
terials were  impelled  to  act  at  all,  originated  in  the  volition 
of  the  Builder.  Here  is  the  difference  between  Law  and 
Force.  Law  of  itself  could  not  create  any  thing,  though  all 
things  were  created  according  to  Law.  Force  of  itself  could 
not  create  any  thing,  though  all  things  are  created  by  the 
application  of  Force.  It  is  by  means  of  Force,  as  an  im- 
pulsive principle,  and  Law,  as  a  director  of  its  impulsions,  that 
all  things  have  sprung  into  being. 

The  idea  may  perhaps  be  rendered  still  more  clear  to  some 
minds,  by  considering  the  whole  united  system  of  archetypes 
as  one  grand  Mould,  fashioned  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Builder, 
into  which,  by  the  direct  voluntative  effort  of  the  Builder, 
materials  are  poured,  by  way  of  forming  the  outer  structure. 
But  without  the  extra  proceedings  of  pouring  the  materials 
into  it,  the  mould  might  exist  for  ever  without  giving  rise  to 
the  casting,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  all  the  efforts  imagin- 
able could  not  give  rise  to  the  casting,  did  not  the  mould 
exist  to  receive  it. 

We  have  seen  that  if  the  human  builder,  in  clothing  his 
mental  archetypes  of  a  proposed  structure,  could  permanently 
infix  in  that  structure  that  portion  or  degree  of  the  energizing 


HUMAN     AND     DIVINE     BUILDEE. 

influence  of  his  own  spirit,  which  would  be  requisite,  by  a 
spontaneous  internal  action,  to  keep  the  structure  in  repair, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  refine  and  perfect  it,  the  structure 
would  be,  in  some  sense,  a  living  creation.  But  although  this 
is  not  the  case  with  the  human  builder  and  his  work,  it  is 
precisely  the  case  with  the  Divine  Builder  and  the  universal 
Edifice  which  he  has  established.  Not  only  doe's  the  system 
of  creation  as  a  Whole,  but  each  of  its  included  and  corre- 
sponding sub-systems,  contain  a  power  of  internal  motion  and 
sustentation,  infused  by  the  Creator  at  its  origin,  and  which  is 
now  perpetually  sustained  by  influx  from  Him,  and  is  ever 
acting  in  parallelism  with  the  original  archetype,  which  consti- 
tutes its  law.  It  was  in  view  of  this  fact  that  it  was  argued, 
in  another  part  of  this  work,  in  opposition  to  the  received 
philosophy,  that  if  the  cosmical  system  could,  by  any  foreign 
agency,  become  deranged  or  thrown  out  of  equilibrium  in  any 
way.  instead  of  the  derangement  progressing,  and  ultimating 
in  a  total  wreck  of  the  system,  the  internal  forces  of  recuper- 
ation would  be  such  as  to  soon  restore  the  wonted  equilibrium, 
and  all  things  would  go  on  as  before.  But  on  the  other  hand, 
were  the  Creator  to  withold  the  influx  of,  and  withdraw,  his 
vital  energy  from  the  universe,  as  soon  as  the  momenta  of  ex- 
isting forces  and  motions  became  exhausted,  all  things  would 
necessarily  come  to  an  eternal  stagnation  and  death ! 

I  have  said  that  the  archetypes  or  pre-existent  ideal  patterns 
of  each  creation,  are  the  spiritual  nuclei  of  the  outer  forms  of 
which  that  creation  consists,  and  hence  that  they  constitute 
the  laws  by  which  Force  acts  in  the  aggregation  of  substances 
for  the  development  of  their  outer  forms.  Now,  as  it  was 
before  shown  that  each  creation,  both  as  to  its  exterior  and 
its  interior  and  vitalizing  constitution,  is  seven-fold,  so  each 
creation,  with  its  spiritual  nuclei,  life,  and  laws,  is,  in  some 

21 


242      LAW    AGENCY    AND     DIVINE    AGENCT. 

sense,  a  correspondent  and  representative  of  the  seven-fold 
constitution  of  the  Deity,  or  the  "seven  spirits  'of  God" 
spoken  of  in  Revelation.  Each  seven-fold  creation,  therefore, 
is  the  same  with  all  others  as  to  correspondence,  but  is  differ- 
ent from  all  others  as  to  degree  ;  and  each  one  contains  within 
itself,  as  its  vitalizing  and  energizing  soul,  a,  corresponding  de- 
gree of  the  seven-fold  harmonies  of  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom. 

Let  this  latter  point  be  distinctly  understood ;  God  exists 
in  the  universal  cosmical  system  as  its  soul,  but  does  not  ex- 
ist there  as  God,  but  only  in  the  quality  and  capacity  of  those 
vitalizing  and  operative  forces  and  principles  of  form,  which 
were  necessary  to  the  creation,  and  are  now  necessary  to  the 
subsistence,  internal  motions,  and  constant  improvement  of 
the  general  creation,  as  such;  in  Solar  Systems,  God  exists  in 
the  degree  of  those  vital  and  motive  forces  which  are  necessary 
to  them,  as  such;  in  planets  God  exis-ts,  also,  in  his  seven- 
fold harmonies,  but  only  in  a  degree  necessary  to  constitute 
the  vitality,  and  to  originate  the  internal  motions  and  other 
functional  operations,  of  planets,  as  such  ;  in  the  Mineral  King- 
dom God  exists  as  mineral  and  chemical  Life ;  in  the  Veget- 
able Kingdom,  as  the  principle  of  vegetable  Life;  in  the 
Animal  Kingdom,  as  the  principle  of  animal,  instinctive,  and 
semi-intellectual  Life,  but  not  yet  as  God ;  in  the  Human 
World  he  exists  as  the  principle  of  human  Life ;  but  only  in 
a  perfectly  integral,  pure,  innocent,  and  harmoniously  consti- 
tuted Man,  does  He  exist  in  his  focalized  and  quantitatively 
diminished,  but  qualitatively  'perfected  Selfhood,  as  God. 
But  in  a  discreet  degree  above  the  whole  universe  of  outer 
creations,  He  exists  in  his  August,  Infinite,  and  Ineffable  Self- 
hood, as  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  First  and  the  Last,  the 
Beginning  and  End  of  all  things  \ 

Though  these  investigations  have  been  pursued,  and  these 


DIVINE   DWELLING-PLACES.  243 

conclusions  have  been  drawn,  independently  of  the  revelations 
of  the  Scriptures,  I  can  not  abstain  from  marking  their  perfect 
parallelism  with  the  language  of  Paul  in  the  following  pas- 
sages :  "  One  God,  who  is  ABOVE  all,  and  THROUGH  all,  and 
IN  YOU  all." — Eph.  iv.  6.  "  And  he  is  BEFORE  all  things,  and 
by  him  all  things  CONSIST." — Col.  i.  17.  "For  OF  him,  and 
THROUGH  him,  and  TO  him  are  ALL  THINGS  ;  to  whom  be  glory 
for  ever." — Rom.  xi.  36.  Representing  the  Divine  vitalizing 
principle  flowing  into,  and  pervading  man,  as  taking  the  char- 
acter of  man,  the  same  as  when  flowing  into,  and  vitalizing 
animals,  vegetables,  minerals,  worlds,  it  always  takes  the 
specific  character  of  its  receptacle — David,  addressing  the 
Deity,  says,  "  With  the  merciful  thou  wilt  show  thyself  mer- 
ciful, and  with  the  upright  man  thou  wilt  show  thyself  up- 
right :  with  the  pure  thou  wilt  show  thyself m  pure,  and  with 
the  fro  ward  thou  wilt  show  thyself  fro  ward." — Ps.  xviii. 
25,  26.  This  can  not  mean  that  God,  in  his  true  personal 
character,  is  any  other  than  merciful,  upright,  and  pure,  but 
that  his  vitalizing  and  energizing  inflowings  into  man  (without 
which  man  would  be  dead,  body  and  soul)  can  excite  the 
qualities  of  mercy,  uprightness,  purity,  etc.,  only  as  these 
comport  with  the  character  of  the  receptacle.  It  is  said,  more- 
over, that  God  dwells  "  with  him  who  is  of  an  humble  and 
contrite  spirit ;"  that  is,  dwells,  not  as  a  mere  generator  of 
material  force  and  action,  as  he  dwells  in  the  lower  creations, 
but  dwells  as  God  in  his  interior  soul,  as  in  a  temple;  while 
the  "  fullness  of  the  Godhead"  dwelt  "  bodily"  only  in  that 
ever-to-be-admired  personage,  who  was  absolutely  without  sin, 
who  expressly  declared  that  he  was  in  unity  with  the  Father 
— that  he  was  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  him,  and  in 
whose  celestial  purity,  disinterested  and  unbounded  love,  and 
life-long  labors  and  sacrifices  for  the  good  of  humanity,  we 


244      LAW    AGENCY    AND    DIVINE    AGENCY. 

have  the  only  full  and  true  manifestation  of  the  moral  attri- 
butes of  the  Deity. 

The  foregoing  will  probably  serve  to  the  reader  as  a  suf- 
ficient illustration  of  the  various  degrees  of  the  Divine  Prin- 
ciple, as  now  embodied  in  the  different  and  corresponding 
Series  and  Degrees  of  the  creations  he  has  formed.  The 
method  of  the  successive  origination  of  these  various  Series 
arid  Degrees  of  creation,  has  also  been  incidentally  implied  in 
what  has  been  said ;  but  as  this  is  a  point  which  bears  upon 
important  speculations  which  are  rife  in  these  days,  some 
further  illustration  upon  the  subject  may  be  useful. 

The  point  to  be  illustrated  and  insisted  upon  is,  that  creation 
did  not  deyelop  itself,  either  according  to  inherent  forces  of 
its  own,  nor  are  its  development  and  its  present  internal  oper- 
ations, owing  simply  to  the  momenta  generated  by  the  first 
impulses  impressed  upon  matter  by  the  Creator,  while  the 
Creator  himself  retired  for  eternity,  as  one  would  retire  from 
a  clock  that  was  once  wound  up  and  set  a-going.  In^case  of 
such  retirement  of  the  Deity,  after  the  first  impulse  had  been 
given  to  materials,  those  materials  would  have  moved  only  in 
the  direction  of  the  impulse,  and  only  until  the  momentum- 
generated  became  exhausted,  and  creation  could  not  possibly 
have  passed  one  Elemental  Degree  beyond  a  first  develop- 
ment. Hence,  each  superior  degree  of  creation  must  neces- 
sarily have  been  accomplished  by  the  aid  of  forces  outside  of, 
superior  to,  and  altogether  independent  of,  itself,  which  gave 
the  physical  elements,  involved  in  the  previous  development, 
an  upward  attraction,  and  a  tendency  to  aggregate  in  the 
form  of  the  next  superior  series  of  archetypes  conceived  in 
the  Divine  Mind.  And  this  is  true  in  respect  to  the  develop- 
ment of  creation,  as  one  Grand  Series,  and  also  in  respect  to 
the  development  of  each  of  its  corresponding  sub-series. 


LABYKINTII     OF     CREATION. 


245 


This  whole  subject,  with  other  points  in  our  general  philosophy, 
may  be  illustrated  by  the  accompanying  diagram. 


Let  the  seven-fold  triangular  figure  (one  angle  being  within 
another)  which  descends  from  the  upper  part  of  the  diagram, 
and  whose  most  exterior  angle  comes  to  a  point  at  the  center 
of  the  diagram,  represent  a  seven-fold  Ray  or  Glory  emanat- 
ing from  the  Divine  Being.  This  we  will  suppose  to  represent 
the  Complete  Degree  of  the  Divine  Soul,  and  Spirit,  and  Per- 
son, which  was  to  generate,  and  to  b^e  in  some  sense  embodied 
in  universal  creation  with  Man  at  its  head.  Resolved  into 
three  Discreet  Degrees,  we  will  .suppose  that  this  Ray  or 
Glory  consisted  of  Divine  Spiritual  Heat,  which  is  Love,  of 
Divine  Spiritual  Light,  which  is  Wisdom,  and  of  Divine  Po- 


246         LAW    AGENCY    AND    DIVINE    AGENCY. 

tentializing  Essence,  which  is  the  "  complex,  continent,  and 
basis"  of  the  preceding,  and  hence  the  medium  of  volitional 
operation.  We  will  suppose,  then  (what  can  not  be  essentially 
'  erroneous),  that  from  the  empyrean  heights  of  infinite  perfec- 
tion, where  God,  before  creation  began,  had  from  eternity 
dwelt  in  inconceivable  greatness  and  perfection,  this  seven-fold 
and  three-fold  Ray  emanating  from  his  own  Person,  descended 
by  volition,  and  at  its  lowest  extremity,  resolved  its  most  ex- 
terior essences  (represented  by  the  outer  triangle)  into  atomic 
particles,  which,  in  forms  and  constitutions,  corresponded  to 
archetypes  previously  existing  in  the  Divine  consciousness, 
and  which  were  designed  to  be  wrought  into  the  structure  of 
this  universe  and  all  it  contains.  Let  the  central  point  in  the 
diagram,  then,  represent  the  atomic  or  lowest  stage  of  creation, 
this  being  the  physical  Germ  from  which  the  great  Tree  of 
universal  Being  was  to  grow.  From  this  central  point,  it  will 
be  observed,  proceeds  a  spiral  line,  which,  while  constantly 
receding  from  the  center,  winds  around  through  six  radii,  and 
completes  the  circuit  of  the  diagram  on  the  center  of  the  de- 
scending Ray,  on  which  it  commenced.  This  spiral  line,  in 
passing  around,  represents  the  inception,  progress,  and  comple- 
tion, of  the  first  Circle,  Series,  or  Complete  Degree  of  Forms. 
From  the  center  of  the  descending  Ray,  and  the  apex  of  a 
second  and  more  interior  triangle,  the  same  spiral  line  thence 
continues,  and,  completing  another  circuit  while  perpetually 
receding  from  the  center,  represents  the  course  of  the  next 
higher  and  corresponding  Circle  of  creations.  And  so,  com- 
mencing every  time  at  the  point  representing  the  completion 
of  the  previous  Circle  (this,  at  the  same  time,  being  the  focus 
of  a  more  interior  Degree  of  the  Divine  generative  Principle), 
it  continues  its  corresponding  circuits  around  the  diagram,  all 
the  while  expanding  from  the  center,  and  thus  representing  the 


TKEE      OF     CREATION.  24:7 

course  of  higher  and  still  higher  creations,  until  the  last  is  at- 
tained, which  is  Man. 

Now  the  descending  Divine  creative  Ray  forms  the  seventh 
radius  of  the  circle,  which  represents  the  beginning  and  ending  * 
of  each  Series  or  complete  Degree  of  creations.  But  the  end 
of  each  is  represented  as  higher  than  its  beginning,  and  as  in 
, conjunction  with,  and  subject  to  the  operative  inflowings  of, 
the  next  higher  Degree  of  the  Divine  generative  Principle, 
which  is  represented  by  the  apex  of  the  next  more  interior 
triangle.  Each  Circle  of  developments  traced  directly,  or  from 
beginning  to  end,  may  be  called  a  "  line  of  natural  ascent :" 
each  circle  traced  inversely,  or  from  end  to  beginning,  may  be 
called  a  " line  of  spiritual  descent"  representing  the  descent 
or  operative  inflowings  of  the  Divine  vitalizing  and  formative 
Energy,  by  which  material  elements  involved  in  inferior 
forms  are  refined,  energized,  and  brought  by  an  upward  at- 
traction into  next  superior,  and  thence  still  superior,  and  finally 
into  highest  forms,  according  to  the  pre-existent  archetypes  of 
said  forms,  or  their  Divine  spiritual  patterns.  Thus  is  the 
great  Tree  of  universal  creation  brought  through  all  its  succes- 
sive stages  of  development  unto  perfection,  by  constantly  de- 
scending influences  from  the  Divine  Spiritual  Sun — in  the  same 
way  as  the  vegetable  tree  is  made  to  grow  from  germ  to  ulti- 
mate, by  the  constantly  descending  influences  of  the  natural 
Sun,  which,  however,  is  interiorly  vitalized  by  the  Spiritual. 
But  we  think  it  ought  to  be  entirely  obvious  to  every  intelli- 
gent mind,  that  without  these  descending  and  vitalizing  influ- 
ences, neither  Tree  could  proceed  a  single  step  in  its  ascending 
development ;  and,  moreover,  if  at  any  time  during  the  course 
of  their  development,  this  superior  and  independent  influence 
should  be  withholden,  the  development  would  necessarily  and 
immediately  cease,  and  stagnation  and  decay  would  ensue. 


248        LAW    AGENCY    AND    DIVINE    AGENCY. 

If  the  tree  can  not  grow  without  the  sun,  it  may  be  consid- 
ered equally  certain  that  nature  as  a  whole,  and  hence,  also,  as 
to  its  component  parts,  from  greatest  to  most  minute,  has  no 
'power  of  development  or  motion  in  and  of  itself.  Hence  all 
power,  as  well  as  its  directive  influence,  must  be  from  above 
nature,  and  hence  from  God ;  and  hence  all  stellar  systems, 
solar  systems,  worlds,  minerals,  vegetables,  animals,  and  even 
animalcules,  were  created  and  are  governed,  not  only  by  the 
remote  and  indirect,  but  by  the  immediate  and  direct,  agency  of 
God! 

These  are  among  the  considerations  wrhich  we  think  com- 
pletely overthrow  the  pantheistic  speculations  with  which 
much  of  the  philosophy  of  the  day  is  more  or  less  impreg- 
nated. 

The  diagram,  also,  by  presenting  a  succession  of  continually 
expanding  circles,  all  having  one  center,  and  being  constituted 
after  one  principle,  presents  a  clear  and  concise  illustration  of 
the  doctrines  of  Series,  Degrees,  and  Correspondences,  and  will 
serve  thus  to  fix  permanently  in  the  mind  a  true  idea  of  the 
complexly-unitary  constitution,  and  harmoniously  interblend- 
ing  movements  of  the  universe,  as  expressive  of  the  Love, 
Wisdom,  and  infinite  internal  harmonies  of  its  DIVINE 
AUTHOR. 


CHAPTEE    XXY. 

PEOVIDENCE. 

-      .  "•   :  %     '"'. 

THOUGH  it  is  shown  in  the  foregoing  pages,  that  creation 
must  have  been  developed,  and  must  now  be  governed  in 
its  operations,  according  to  directive  Wisdom  existing  in 
the  forms  of  fixed  laws,  there  is  nothing  in  the  theory  pre- 
sented which  contradicts,  but  every  thing  which  confirms,  those 
deep  intuitions  of  every  well-regulated  mind,  respecting  the  con- 
stant Providence  of  God  as  concerned  in  the  unfolding  and  gov- 
ernment of  his  creation.  If,  as  we  have  seen,  law  of  itself  has 
no  creative  force,  but  is  simply  a  mode  of  action  prescribed  and 
predetermined  by  the  archetypes  and  intentions  conceived  in 
the  Divine  Mind ;  and  if  to  the  realization  of  each  succeeding 
stage  of  creation,  however  great  o*r  minute,  an  additional  and 
voluntative  influx  of  Divine  formative  Energy,  was  absolutely 
necessary ;  and,  moreover,  if  the  same  constant  influx  is  ne- 
cessary to  sustain  the  life  and  motions  of  the  system  after  it 
is  in  being — then  it  follows  that  every  event,  from  the  birth 
of  a  world  to  the  falling  of  a  sparrow,  or  the  rustling  of  a  leaf 
in  the  summer  breeze,  is,  in  some  sense,  a  Providence — that 
is,  it  was  provided  for  in  the  pre-determined  course  of  Divine 
intelligent  volition  and  causation.  But  to  prevent  involving 
creation  in  inextricable  confusion,  and  to  establish  and  preserve 
an  orderly  relationship  and  affectionate  interblending  of  all 
forms,  and  a  just  and  harmonious  reciprocation  in  all  their 
offices  and  movements,  God  orders  even  his  providences  accord- 


250  PROVIDENCE. 

ing  to  laws,  or,  it  may  almost  be  said,  he  has  made  them 
synonymous  ivith  laws. 

It  may  safely  be  believed  that  the  present  order  and  plan 
of  creation  is  the  best  that  could  have  been  devised  by  the 
Divine  Mind  ;  for  otherwise,  the  present  plan  would  not  have 
been  adopted.  But  if  it  is  the  best,  then  it  requires  no  funda- 
mental change,  and  not  even  any  modifications,  except  such  as 
may  comport  with  a  constant  general  progression  on  the  basis 
of  the  original  plan.  But  while  all  progression  in  each  de- 
partment is  dependent  upon  an  influx  or  inhalation  (hence 
free  bestowment  by  the  Divine  Being),  of  additional  degrees  of 
that  Divine  vitalizing  influence  which  is  specifically  suitable 
to  itself,  and  while  all  progression  is  in  this  sense  providential, 
God  can  not,  either  in  causing  a  progressional  or  any  other 
change,  and  without  deranging  the  established,  and  hence  best 
possible  order  of  things,  act  providentially  and  directly  upon 
any  department  of  creation,  except  through  the  medium  of 
that  particular  kind  of  force  or  vitality  of  which  the  thing  acted 
upon  is  a  suitable  receptacle. 

Thus,  considering  the  universe  in  its  most  general  aspect  as 
one  grand  Whole,  God  can  not  act  directly  upon  it,  or  modify 
its  existing  activities  and  tendencies,  except  through  the  me- 
dium of  those  forces  and  laws  of  Expansion,  Contraction,  Cir- 
culation, Aggregation,  etc.,  in  the  degree  in  which  they  apply 
to  the  universe  as  a  whole.  He  can  not  act  directly  upon 
solar  systems  and  worlds,  except  through  the  medium  of  the 
same  laws  and  forces  in  their  higher  degrees  of  unfolding  as 
applicable  to  solar  systems  and  worlds ;  God  can  not  act 
directly  upon  MineraFcreations,  except  through  the  forces  and 
laws  of  chemical  affinities  ;  He  can  not  act  directly  upon  Vege- 
table. Kingdoms,  except  through  the  forces  and  laws  of  vegeta- 
ble life ;  He  can  not  act  directly  on  the  Animal  Kingdom,  or 


PROVIDENCE.  251 

any  of  its  forms,  except  through  the  forces  and  laws  of  animal, 
sensational,  and  semi-intellectual  life ;  He  can  act  directly  on 
selfish  and  sinful  human  nature,  only  by  those  isolated  and 
disjointed  motive  forces  which  are  adapted  to  reach  and  affect 
the  disjointed  mental  and  moral  constitutions  of  selfish  and 
sinful  human  beings  ;  while  God  can  act  directly  and  fully  as 
God,  in  all  his  affectional,  intellectual,  and  moral  nature,  only 
upon  a  perfectly  pure  and  sinless  intelligence — a  being  fitted 
for  the  harmonious  influx  of  all  the  affectional,  intellectual,  and 
voluntative  principles  of  the  Divine  Soul — a  being,  hence, 
who  stands  in  the  perfect  image  of  God,  and  who,  in  principle, 
is  one  with  Him.  Hence,  when  such  a  being  acts  (and  there 
never  was  but  one  such  a  being),  it  may  be  said  that  God  acts 
with  him,  in  him,  and  through  him,  and  that  his  every  act  is  in 
the  fullest  and  most  Divine  sense,  a  providence. 

But  as  the  infinite  Divine,  personal,  and  volitional  Intelli- 
gence is  above  all  things,  and  over -all  things,  and  is  the  inex- 
haustible Source  of  all  streams  of  vitality  and  motive  force 
which  flow  into  the  various  departments  of  His  creation,  it  may 
be  rationally  conceived,  that  by  withholding  his  inflowings 
into  the  universal  system  as  a  whole,  he  could  cause  univer- 
sal stagnation  and  dissolution  to  ensue;  or  that  by  increasing 
those  inflowings,  he  could  stimulate  all  firmamental  develop- 
ments and  solar  and  planetary  motions,  to  unwonted  activity ; 
or  that  by  diminishing  his  influence  in  one  portion  of  space, 
and  increasing  it  in  another,  He  could  cause  the  dissolution  of 
some  worlds,  and  the  absorption  of  their  materials  by  others ; 
or  that  by  modifying  his  influences  upon  the  electric,  aerial, 
and  subterranean  forces  of  a  particular  planet  (such  as  our 
own),  he  can  cause  floods  to  deluge  the  earth,  or  subterranean 
fires  to  overwhelm  cities,  and  destroy  such  human  beings  as 
must  otherwise  stand  as  obstructions  to  true  progress ;  or  that 


252  PKOVIDENCE. 

in  a  similar  way,  he  might  cause  a  rarefaction  of  the  atmo- 
sphere in  one  locality,  and  a  condensation  in  another,  and  thus 
cause  a  current  of  wind  sufficiently  violent  to  cleave  the  waters 
of  a  gulf,  and  afford  a  dry  passage  for  a  particular  people 
through  whom  he  designed  to  affect  great  purposes. 

It  will  doubtless  still  be  argued  that  such  occurrences,  if 
they  ever  do  take  place,  are  results  simply  of  the  forces  and 
laws  of  nature.  In  a  qualified  sense,  this  is  granted,  as  we 
have  shown  before  that  all  action,  whether  physical  or 
spiritual,  is  according  to  some  laws ;  but  we  insist  that  it  is 
an  exceedingly  superficial  view  of  the  laws  of  nature,  which 
supposes  that  they  are  self-generative  and  self-active,  or  that 
they  can  exist  for  a  moment  as  separate  from  that  Divine 
vitalizing  and  spiritual  Principle  which,  in  an  earlier  stage 
of  this  work,  we  showed  was  necessarily  self-existent  and 
eternal. 

But  if  this  self-existent,  and  all  generative,  and  vitalizing 
Divine  Principle  may  operate  upon  mundane  forces  and  de- 
velopments in  the  way  just  described,  he  may,  in  a  similar 
way,  control,  modify,  and  direct  chemical  and  mineral,  or 
vegetable,  or  animal,  or  spiritual  forces  and  developments,  by 
a  voluntary  graduation  of  those  influences,  proceeding  from 
himself,  as  adapted  to  either  of  these  departments  of  his 
creation.  And  all  such  operations  would  be  instances  of 
direct  providences. 

But  while  it  would  be  impossible  for  God,  consistently 
with  the  fundamental,  which  we  have  presumed  to  be  the 
best  possible  plan  of  creation,  to  act  directly  upon  any  one 
department  of  being,  by  forces  specifically  adapted  only  to 
another  (as,  for  instance,  to  act  directly  upon  mind,  by  that 
Degree  of  attractive  force  known  as  "  gravitation,"  or  to  di- 
rectly control  planets  by  the  motive  forces  of  moral  and 


PROVIDENCE.  253 

rational  convictions),  it  is  none  the  less  conceivable  that  each 
department  of  existence  may  be  indirectly  influenced  through 
the  medium  of  some  other  department,  which  is  made  the 
receptacle  of  direct  influence.  Thus  it  may  be  conceived  as 
possible  for  God,  by  special  and  designed  action  upon  a  par- 
ticular planet,  to  change  the  orbit  of  such  planet,  and  thus 
mediately  change  the  orbits  of  all  the  planets  with  which  it 
may  be  associated,  and  thus  to  change  their  seasons,  and  thus 
their  inhabitants,  if  they  have  any,  and  thus  even  to  produce 
an  endless  concatenation  of  spiritual  changes ;  or,  that  by 
action  upon  one  particular  department  of  the  Mineral,  Veget- 
able, or  Animal  Kingdom,  He  might  change  other  depart- 
ments of  the  same  Kingdom,  and  thus  indefinitely  change  the 
relations  existing  between  them  all. 

Similar  remarks  are  especially  applicable  to  the  Divine 
government  of  the  Human  world.  Notwithstanding  every 
human  being,  and  the  whole  race,  as  one  grand  Man,  was 
designed  to  reflect  the  image  of  the  Creator,  human  nature, 
in  its  present  state,  is  undeniably  more  or  less  depraved, 
selfish,  and  inharmonious,  and  hence  is  not  receptive  of  the 
Divine  influence,  in  its  pure  and  harmonious  state.  The 
Divine  spiritual  influence,  directly  and  immediately  infused 
into  the  human  world,  therefore,  and  without  the  mediumship 
of  a  perfect  human  personage  to  harmoniously  reflect,  truly 
define,  and  correctly  apply,  its  principles,  would  necessarily 
take  a  form  of  manifestation  more  or  less  characterized  by  the 
imperfections  of  degenerate  humanity  as  its  receptacle — in  the 
same  way  as  the  Divine  operative  influence,  flowing  into 
animal  or  still  lower  creations,  takes  a  form  of  manifestation 
peculiar  to-  those  creations.  On  this  principle,  and  this  prin- 
ciple alone,  it  is  conceived,  we  may  account  for  the  imper- 
fection of  the  impressions  which  the  Divine  inspiration  gave 

22 


254  PROVIDENCE. 

to  Moses,  and  David,  and  the  prophets,  and  the  imperfections 
of  the  code  of  ethics,  principles  of  government,  and  policy  in 
respect  to  other  nations,  which  grew  out  of  these  impressions ; 
for  all  these  were  evidently  imperfect  when  judged  by  a 
Christian  standard.  Still,  by  means  of  such  inflowings,  as 
the  psychical  and  mental  constitutions  of  these  mediums 
rendered  possible,  God,  without  immediately  obliterating 
existing  evils,  pressed  these  evils  into  the  service  of  ultimate 
good :  and  by  arraying  one  nation  against  another,  subjecting 
some  to  utter  extermination,  humbling  others,  by  long  dis- 
ciplinary chastisements,  etc.,  so  directed  the  general  course  of 
human  events  as  provide  for  the  influx  of  more  and  more 
light,  and  for  the  final  coming  of  him  who  was  emphatically 
"  the  Light  of  the  world."  And  now  that  that  Light  has 
come,  a  similar  course  of  indirect  Divine  providences  is  con- 
tinued with  reference  to  nations  and  individuals,  evidently 
with  the  view  to  the  ultimate  bringing  of  all  under  the  full 
influence  of  its  life-giving  beams,  and  to  the  establishment 
of  that  Divine  Kingdom  in  the  world  which  shall  "break 
to  pieces  and  consume  all  other  kingdoms,  and  stand  for 
ever." 

But  if  in  this  disjointed  and  degenerate  state  of  the  human 
faculties,  God  can  discharge  the  highest  functions  of  his  Di- 
vine government  only  by  bringing  the  appropriate  forces  of 
one  human  faculty,  one  person,  one  society,  or  one  nation,  to 
bear  upon  another,  it  is  equally  true  that  in  the  perfect  man, 
God  rules  directly,  personally  and  absolutely  as  God,  in  all  his 
harmoniously  consociated  affectional,  moral,  and  intellectual 
attributes — in  the  same  way  as  he  rules  as  mechanical,  chemi- 
cal, or  vegetative  Force,  in  different  departments  of  nature 
without.  Nay,  in  such  a  being,  as  the  ultimate  and  harmonious 
embodiment  of  all  the  principles  of  his  Love  and  Wisdom, 


PJROVIDENOE.  255 

God  absolutely  dwells,  in  his  integral  and  personal  capacity,  as 
in  a  temple;  and  therefore  such  a  being  is  God  in  his  focalized 
capacity  as  adapted  to  a  direct  conjunction  with  humanity. 
All  that  authentic  history  informs  us  of  the  character,  actions, 
and  teachings  of  Jesus  goes  to  justify  the  belief  that  he  was 
such  a  divinely  human  and  humanly  divine  personage. 

It  should  be  observed,  that  a  perfectly  pure  and  sinless  in- 
telligence, such  as  is  here  conceived,  must,  as  viewed  in  a 
human  aspect,  stand  at  the  very  apex  of  visible  creation,  or  at 
that  point  in  a  grand  seven- fold  circle  of  existence  at  which 
endings  merge  into  beginnings.  Hence,  the  Divine  Soul, 
focalizing  in  all  its  harmoniously  combined  principles,  in  such 
a  being,  would  maintain  the  same  relations  to  inferior  physi- 
cal constitutions,  and  to  all  outer  physical  substances  which 
lie  within  his  sphere,  as  the  Divine  Being  in  his  whole  infini- 
tude, sustains  to  the  physical  universe  as  a  whole.  Hence  the 
Divinity,  in  this  focalized  capacity,  would  maintain  toward  all 
things  within  his  sphere,  the  relations  of  a  New  Beginning 
Principle  ;  and  if  God  in  his  infinitude,  as  the  Beginning  Prin- 
ciple of  the  universe  as  a  whole,  could,  from  his  free  volition, 
make  and  unmake  laws  to  govern  the  present  system  of  things, 
then  God,  in  the  condescended  form  of  his  personal  Being  as 
manifested  through  a  suitable  human  organism  at  the  end  of 
an  old,  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  creation,  may,  in  equal 
consistency  with  the  rules  of  Divine  order,  establish  new  laws, 
or  rather  en«t  immensely  higher  degrees  of  old  ones,  as 
relating  to  such  existences  within  his  sphere  as  need  such  in- 
terference. There  is  nothing  irrational  in  the  supposition, 
therefore,  that  the  Divinely  human,  or  humanly  Divine  Prin- 
ciple (which  are  one  and  the  same),  could,  by  volition  through 
the  outer  organism  which  served  as  its  medium, -concentrate 
its  vital  energies  upon  the  diseased  bodies  of  man,  and  even 


256  PROVIDE  NCE. 

the  inorganic  elements  of  the  outer  world,  and  produce  such 
effects  as  are  commonly  designated  by  the  word  "  miraculous," 
and  that,  too,  simply  according  to  that  higher  degree  of  laws 
specifically  adapted  to  such  operations,  and  unfolded  for  such 
specific  purposes.  Such  would  be  instances  of  the  highest 
manifestations  of  indirect  providences. 

But  if  God  dwells  and  rules,  with  a  perfect  and  harmonious 
display  of  all  the  principles  of  his  nature  as  God,  in  a  being 
such  as  we  have  supposed,  then  it  follows  that  the  more  any 
man  is  like  such  a  being,  the  more  fully  God  "  works  within 
him  to  will  and  to  do  according  to  his  own  pleasure,"  the  more 
he  is  under  the  direct  operation  of  the  highest  order  of  Divine 
Providences,  the  more  he  is  raised,  as  it  were,  above  the 
sphere  of  mere  material  things  and  their  laws,  and  the  more 
he  becomes  a  medium  through  which  the  Divine  Being,  in  his 
affectional,  intellectual,  and  volitional  nature  as  such,  acts  upon 
beings  and  conditions  below  him,  to  bring  them  up  to  the  true 
standard  of  heal thfuln ess,  harmony,  and  perfection !  And 
when  all  human  beings  shall  be  fully  united  to  God — shall 
fully  "dwell  in  him,  and  he  in  them,"  then  all  human  beings, 
with  their  outer  conditions,  and  even  the  whole  physical  world, 
divinely  acted  upon  through  their  mediation,  will  undoubtedly 
be  spiritualized,  and  elevated  one  Discreet  Degree,  and  peace 
and  plenty,  and  that  universal  harmony  and  love,  which  may 
be  considered  as  uncontaminated  and  unperverted  outflowings 
from  the  Divine  Fountain  of  Infinite  Harmony  and  Love, 
will  take  the  place  of  the  corroding  selfishness,  the  distracting 
animosities,  and  the  physical,  as  well  as  moral,  diseases  and 
sufferings  which  now  roll  their  desolating  waves  over  the 
earth. 

Let  it  be  .distinctly  understood  that  the  foregoing  theory  of 
Divine  Providences  is  presented  simply  as  a  rational  deduc- 


PROVIDENCE.  257 

tion  of  philosophy,  aside  from  the  teachings  of  Scripture. 
The  few  scriptural  phrases  we  have  employed  in  this  dis- 
quisition, have  been  employed  incidentally,  solely  in  consider- 
ation of  their  appositeness,  as  expressing  certain  ideas  which 
have  lain  within  the  course  of  our  reasonings.  Being  actu- 
ated by  the  sole  desire  of  developing  the  teachings  of  phil- 
osophy, with  reference  to  these  questions  of  theology,  it  is  not 
pretended  that  we  have  attained  to  a  full  unfolding  of  truth 
upon  the  subject  discussed,  or  even  to  so  clear  a  presentation 
of  that  measure  of  truth  which  has  been  found,  as  might  have 
been  attained  if  we  had  freely  availed  ourselves  of  scriptural 
aids.  But  while,  by  the  course  we  have  pursued,  our  con- 
clusions have  been  left  unprejudiced  in  the  view  of  such  of 
our  readers  as  may  be  disinclined  to  admit  the  authority  of 
the  Bible,  we  beg  such  readers,  in  candor,  to  observe,  that  so 
far  as  the  teachings  of  nature  and  philosophy  have,  in  these 
pages,  been  brought  into  view,  there  is  not  that  hostility  be- 
tween them  and  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  which  unbelievers 
in  the  latter  have  generally  supposed  to  exist.  The  object 
of  all  investigations  should  be,  not  to  establish  the  au- 
thority of  a  Book,  or  of  a  philosophical  creed,  but  to  dis- 
cover Truth;  and  if  some, of  the  most  vitally  important  of 
all  truths  are  recorded  in  the  Bible,  it  must  be  acknow- 
ledged, even  by  all  candid  infidels,  that  while  these  are  no 
more,  they  are  no  less  sacred,  and  while  they  should  be 
received  with  no  more,  they  should  be  received  with  no 
less  avidity,  than  if  the  same  truths  were  found  any  where 
else. 

What  has  been  said  respecting  Providences,  will  serve  to 
give  a  general  idea  of  a  subject  which  is  far  from  being 
exhausted  in  this  discussion.  Instances  of  apparently  still 
more  special  providences,  as  affecting  the  specific  con- 


258  CONCLUSION. 

ditions  of  individuals,  can  be  intelligibly  illustrated  only 
in  view  of  certain  psychological  and  spiritual  laws,  which 
will  form  the  themqs  of  appropriate  remark  when  wewpro 
ceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  Microcosm,  or  the  universe 
within. 

CONCLUSION  OF  THE  VOLUME. 

We  have  thus  endeavored  to  exhibit  a  general  view  of  the 
various  Series  and  Degrees  of  systematic  creation  which  com- 
pose the  aggregate  of  the  outer  realm  of  being — both  in  their 
separate  and  united  capacities,  together  with  their  relations  to 
each  other  and  to  their  common  Divine  Cause  and  Governor. 
We  close  this  first  part  of  our  treatise  with  the  following  re- 
marks : 

1.  If  our  Philosophy,  as  to  its  distinctive  features,  contains 
no  truth,  it  can  at  least  do  no  essential  evil,  as  it  must  be  that 
a  system  of  unmitigated  error,  of  so  bold  and  conspicuous  a 
kind,  and  put  forth  in  this  unguarded  manner,  would  exhibit 
so  many  vulnerable  points  as  to  meet  with  its  death  wound 
the  instant  it  is  exposed  to  the  shafts  of  criticism.  If  it  should 
be  entirely  overthrown,  however,  there  would  still  necessarily 
remain  some  possible  mode  of  systematizing  and  harmonizing 
Nature  and  Truth  in  one  general  philosophic  view,  if  it  so  be 
that  Nature  and  Truth  are  intrinsically  systematic  and  har- 
monious ;  and  the  discovery  of  this  mode  is  worthy  of  the 
highest  efforts  of  philosophic  minds.  I  would  respectfully  sub- 
mit, however,  that  promise  of  a  discovery  of  this  kind,  can 
only  be  given  by  some  such  process  of  serial,  gradational,  and 
correspondential  reasoning  from  interiors  to  exteriors,  as  has 
been  pursued  in  the  foregoing  pages;  and  that  so  long  as 
men  confine  themselves  to  the  ordinary  processes  of  reason- 
ing merely  from  effects  to  causes,  so  long  their  conclusions 


CONCLUSION.  259 

will,  of  necessity,  be  more  or  less  divergent,  and  so  long  they 
will,  at  most,  be  able  to  attain  only  the  body  of  truth,  without 
its  soul. 

2.  If  our  Philosophy  contains  some  truth  and  some  error, 
then  its  truths,  bearing  as  they  do  upon  subjects  of  the  most 
striking  and    important  character,  may,  by  exciting  minds 
capable  of  elaborating  and  extending  them,  yet  form  the  nu- 
cleus of  a  grand  system  of  true  thought,  which  may  be  pro- 
gressively brought  to  a  state  as  near  perfect  as  may  comport 
with  the  finiteness  of  the  human  mind. 

3.  If  it  contains  a  large  preponderance  of  truth,  and  but 
little  essential  error,  then  considerable  progress  has  already 
been  made  in  developing  the  means  of  reconciling  the  jargon 
of  conflicting  thought  upon  all  subjects  natural  and  spiritual, 
and  in  demolishing  the  partition  walls  between  the  Jew  of 
Theology  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Gentile  of  Philosophy  on 
the  other,  and  making  of  the  twain  one  new  man,  thus  making 
peace. 

We  are  next,  therefore,  in  the  light  of  facts,  truths,  princi- 
ples, laws,  correspondences,  etc.,  developed  in  the  preceding 
pages,  to  proceed  to  consider  a  general  theme  of  perhaps  still 
more  interest,  viz.,  the  MICROCOSM,  or  corresponding  universe 
within.  In  the  course  of  our  investigations  upon  this  subject, 
we  shall  probably  speak  of  man  physically,  psychologically, 
individually,  and  socially,  with  a  view  of  exhibiting  his  rela- 
tions to  all  other  things,  his  susceptibility  to  their  influence, 
and  the  conditions  of  his  true  progress  and  happiness. 

Should  not  unforeseen  influences  prevent,  this  second  Trea- 
tise, or  rather  second  part  of  the  present  one,  will  be  ready' for 
publication  in  the  course  of  a  few  months. 

END   OF   THE 


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